



■ PLANS FOR 


EDITED BY | j 


|:. ; . 1 


•A RAH 
LO U1 S ET 


1 I ' : ij 
'..:'■■ • : 


IWWll—HI H. -,-:,:>■. --ionwJI •: 







WMJ 5I W HWWWMB P 



SILVER Jl 



i i 




Class __13 15 JL 
Book._ 
Copyright If 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

PREPARED BY THE 

BOSTON PRIMARY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION 

EDITED BY 

SARAH LOUISE ARNOLD 

SUPERVISOR OF SCHOOLS/" BOSTON 



" O'er wayward childhood would'st thou hold firm rule 
And sun thee in the light of happy faces ? 
Love, Hope, and Patience, these must be thy graces, 
And in thine own heart must they first keep school " 







SILVER, BURDETT & COMPANY 
NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 



\ 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

JUL. 10 1901 

Copyright entry 

CJLASSO. XXo. N«. 

COPY B. 






Copyright, 1901, 
By Silver, Burdett and Company 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE 

This volume is made up of contributions secured by 
the members of the Boston Primary Teachers' Associa- 
tion. These teachers recognized the demand for such 
material in primary school rooms, and appealed to 
the members of the Association to report their suc- 
cessful plans in providing Busy Work for their own 
classes. A committee was organized to collect and 
collate material. 

All contributions passed through the hands of the 
committee, and were afterwards edited by Miss Arnold, 
who is heartily in sympathy with the work of the Asso- 
ciation. They represent the experience and judgment 
of the most thoughtful primary teachers of Boston. 

The book is published for the Primary Teachers' 
Association, and any profits accruing to the Association 
from its sale will be used for their work among the 
Boston teachers. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

Introduction ix 

I. The Kindergarten Occupations 3 

II. The Distribution and Care of Materials for 

Busy Work 8 

III. Sense Training 13 

IV. Language, Spelling, and Reading 29 

V. Language, Spelling, and Reading {continued) . 42 

VI. A Series of Exercises in Phonics and Spelling 50 

VII. Miss Fuller's Phonetic Drill Chart ... 69 

VIII. Number Work for First-Grade Pupils ■ • ■ 75 

IX. Problems in Number for Grades II. and III. 88 

X. Exercises Demanding Practical Judgment in 

Number 93 

XI. Seat Work in Number for Grades II. and III. 98 
XII. Miscellaneous Exercises with Abstract Num- 
bers 100 

XIII. Exercises to Accompany Lessons in Drawing 109 

XIV. A Series of Charts for. Busy Work in Drawing 117 
XV. Children's Drawings 126 

XVI. For Practice in Writing 136 



INTRODUCTION 

The primary teacher must solve a double problem. 
She must not only teach the children how to " read, 
write, and cipher " under her guidance, but she must 
also teach them how to study independently, so that 
they may be prepared to use books for themselves. 
While the teacher of higher grades may content her- 
self with explaining and assigning the lessons, leaving 
the pupil to perform his tasks unaided, the primary 
teacher must direct the period of study as well as the 
recitation and the teaching exercises. In an ordinary 
school of from forty to sixty pupils, not more than 
fifteen or twenty should be reciting at once ; the 
others must busy themselves at the desk, table, or 
blackboard. Our problem is to devise suitable and 
profitable occupation for these pupils. 

Most of us can remember the earlier days of school 
life, when the little children swung their weary feet 
from the high benches, yawned, gazed wistfully out of 
the window, and longed for four o'clock. Their only 
occupation was making pictures on the slate. This, in 
time, gave place to a weary repetition of the letters of 
the alphabet, and at last to " sums." But, oh, the 
wasted hours and the dull indifference which they 
caused ! 



x INTRODUCTION 

We are beginning to learn that the work of teaching 
does not consist merely in hearing recitations and se- 
curing answers to questions. The modern teacher 
endeavors to fill every hour of the child's school life 
with happy, helpful, and active work. " Doing" is 
usurping the place which, in times past, was accorded 
to listening. The teacher of little children, not content 
with hearing recitations and assigning tasks, provides 
occupation for these hitherto listless hours. This is 
done not merely with the hope of making the children 
still or keeping them busy. We have learned that their 
growth is dependent upon right activity and that our 
function is to provide occasions for such activity. We 
have come dimly to apprehend the truth that it is the 
child's deed which makes him master of the idea which 
we are endeavoring to impress. Expression is the vital 
element. His action, and not ours alone, is the essential 
factor in his growth. 

The busy work program, then, thoughtfully consid- 
ered, is no mere list of devices for maintaining a quiet 
schoolroom ; it represents a thoughtful provision for 
the actual needs of the children. Rightly planned, it 
provides fitting tasks by means of which the child tests 
his knowledge and skill, applies the new truth which 
he has learned, and weaves the new idea into his 
expression. 

The problem is not so simple as it appears to the 
casual observer, who, in visiting the school, sees the 
children happily employed with what seem like play- 
things. So simple and so natural does the busy-ness 
seem that one might imagine it had happened without 
any plan or intervention on the part of the teacher. 
But the experienced teacher realizes that serious care 



INTRODUCTION xi 

has been given to this wise and natural employment 
of the little hands and the eager minds, and that it 
is this very "busy work" which brings to fruition the 
lessons given in the class. 

Every exercise in seat work should secure one of 
three results. It should make clearer the lesson which 
has been presented in the class, or teach a new lesson, 
or afford opportunity for practice in some line where 
skill is required. For example, the teacher presents 
the square in her lesson in drawing. The child folds, 
or cuts, or draws the square at his desk, and thus per- 
ceives it more clearly than when it was first presented. 
Or he makes an original design, with the square as a 
unit. Or, through practice with scissors or pencil, he 
becomes able to fold or to cut the perfect square. 

These three ends may fairly be considered the tests 
of busy work. If the exercise results in new knowledge, 
in clearer perception of an old truth, or in added power 
to see or to do, it is good. If it simply fills the time 
of the child, requiring neither thought nor effort, it is 
dull and profitless, and might as well be omitted. To 
pretend to do something which is not worth doing at 
all, is demoralizing. No adult would submit to the 
process ; the children are equally conscious of their 
failure under these circumstances. 

Busy work, to be truly helpful, must engage the 
children's attention, and to this end must be interesting. 
Everybody knows that variety is an element of interest, 
and that frequent changes of playthings help to hold 
the young child's attention, at the same time making 
a return to the old material a delight. Furthermore, 
the material must be attractive to the child. The fact 
that the teacher considers it good for the purpose 



xii INTRODUCTION 

is not enough. The pupil, too, must enjoy his work 
if his interest and attention are to be held to his task. 
We do not always realize that a child's attention and 
interest also depend largely upon his own conception of 
the purpose of the work. When he sees that his labors 
accomplish something which he desires to accomplish, 
he works with persistent zeal. ^The busy work, to be 
successful, must be purposeful and must secure some- 
thing which the child considers a satisfactory result. 
Making something which he likes to make, doing some- 
thing which he likes to do, is profitable to him, and 
profitable busy work always contains this element. 

While the child sees the immediate accomplishment, 
and is pleased with the square which he has drawn, or the 
triangle which he has cut, or the row of beads which he 
has strung, or the mat which he has woven, the teacher 
beholds the fuller fruition. She knows that the patient 
endeavor which entered into the drawing, or the cutting 
or the stringing, results in greater power in doing and 
the ability to persevere longer than had been possible 
before. While making the square the child learns to 
see more clearly, and to express more plainly that 
which he sees. I Clearness of vision and power to 
execute grow from such simple exercises. This the 
teacher knows, although the child realizes nothing of 
his growth. 

The following pages have been prepared by the 
members of the Boston Primary Teachers' Association. 
Every contribution represents the practical experience 
of some teacher who has secured good results from the 
use of the method or device which she recommends. 
It is not expected that any teacher will attempt to 
follow all the plans which are described. Each must 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

adopt for herself the methods which are in harmony 
with her own work. But out of the practical experience 
of many teachers should come real service to those who 
have their experience yet to gain. The study of the 
exercises which are here submitted cannot fail to help 
the teacher who is still struggling with the problem of 
busy work. 

SARAH LOUISE ARNOLD. 

Boston, April, 1901. 



INTRODUCTORY 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



THE KINDERGARTEN OCCUPATIONS 

By LAURA FISHER, 
Director of Kindergartens, Boston. 

THE introduction of kindergarten occupations into 
the primary school is an unfailing sign of the union 
between these two closely allied grades of a school 
system. The degree to which this work can be extended, 
and the forms it shall assume, must depend largely upon 
the development of the children and the skill of the 
teacher. 

It will not do to say, because these occupations are 
beneficial and developing, that therefore children of all 
ages should use them ; nor will it be safe to ignore 
the work already done and the skill attained before the 
child enters school. Repetition, on the one hand, and 
undue simplicity on the other, may cause the best kind 
of work available to fail of the result desired. We need 
to remind ourselves that the kindergarten occupations 
are designed mainly for children between the ages of 
four and six or seven years ; and that they cannot with 
safety be given as educational employment to children 
beyond this age in the same form in which they are 



4 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

prescribed in the kindergarten. Their purpose is mani- 
fold. They should of course minister to the child's 
need of constructive activity and creativeness ; they 
should develop his artistic sense and cultivate taste ; 
they should fix impressions received through the gifts by 
providing for the reproduction of these impressions and 
for the constructive expression of the same ideas ; they 
should develop observation and self-criticism and lead 
to individual and independent self-directed activity. 

Under the direction of the kindergartner, these re- 
sults can be and are achieved. The danger in the 
primary school will result from the fact that, when 
the work of the children cannot be superintended by 
the teacher, for lack of time, it tends to become purely 
mechanical. 

In spite of these possible difficulties, we all believe 
that the introduction of kindergarten occupations into 
the school is a distinct advance, and we have faith that 
the enthusiasm and skill characteristic of the modern 
teacher will surmount all obstacles and achieve success. 

In considering the occupations, it is necessary to 
recognize the differences inherent in them. The mate- 
rials used are more or less flexible : some are more 
suggestive than others ; some require more technical 
skill and greater thought. 

The most flexible materials, used in drawing, color- 
ing, clay modeling, make possible more finished and 
artistic work, and offer to the child the greatest op- 
portunity for free though naturally crude expression. 

The sewing, folding, weaving, peas-work and card- 
board modeling are less suggestive, more restricted, 
more rigid, and more limited in their scope than the 
above-mentioned occupations. They, in general, require 



THE KINDERGARTEN OCCUPATIONS 5 

greater inventive power and more definite ideas on the 
part of the child for the production of original work 
of real significance. On the whole, they are not as 
artistic, although the beginnings of design are well 
developed by means of some of them. 

Crudities permissible in the kindergarten should be 
avoided in the primary school, and many forms legiti- 
mately used with younger children should be dropped 
when they enter school. 

The occupations used to best advantage in the primary 
school (provided the child has had thorough kinder- 
garten training) are, in my opinion, clay modeling, 
drawing and coloring,' peas-work, cardboard modeling, 
paper-folding, with some paper-cutting and pasting, and 
nature-work. These exercises, carefully planned, should 
build upon what has already been accomplished in the 
kindergarten and should be carefully graded according 
to suggestions offered by Froebel. 

They should assume three general forms : the Mathe- 
matical, the ^Esthetic, and the Useful. As the child 
grows in knowledge and conscious power, the ^Esthetic 
and Mathematical should take precedence of the forms 
of use ; and the production of objects should find its 
place in the manual training or sloyd. 

Careful observation of form and number, hidden in 
all the objects produced, should constitute an important 
factor of the work done, in order that the child may be 
made familiar, through construction, with simple mathe- 
matical facts and relations. The artistic in form, color, 
and arrangement should be first enjoyed and later con- 
sciously recognized. 

The objects made should be studied in their relations 
to nature and to human life and activities. This con- 



6 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

struction can easily be correlated with the language 
exercises, nature-study, and literature. 

The series of exercises should be so planned as to give 
scope for free work, prescribed work, and logical 
sequence. Each of these has a place in the develop- 
ment of the child and the occupation, and undue 
emphasis, of either, produces a lack of balance and 
growth. The children should be encouraged to work 
along the suggested lines with home material, that they 
may carry into the home the power and interest 
awakened in the school, and may also learn to express 
themselves upon and through the materials found all 
about them, although these may be crude and not 
beautiful/ .i The real results desired and aimed at must 
always be inner power and thought ; and these, 
achieved, will lead the children to look upon the world 
and its things as their opportunity, even though the 
materials provided and the conditions of their environ- 
ment may be imperfect. 

It would seem to me quite possible, provided the 
teacher can superintend the work, to introduce some 
advanced mathematical gift exercises into the primary 
school, although if the children spend a sufficient length 
of time in the kindergarten, these are unnecessary. 

The real bond between the kindergarten and the 
school is the spirit they have in common. This spirit 
will evolve the specific forms through which it expresses 
itself; and the deeper study of the child's nature and 
needs will bring forth the ways and means by which 
these are developed and met. 

. As we learn from one another and give to one an- 
other, we grow nearer together and nearer to the child. 
It has been a source of great joy and help to find that 



THE KINDERGARTEN OCCUPATIONS 7 

primary teachers and kindergartners are coming ever 
closer together; and no recognition the kindergarten 
receives can be more gratifying and inspiring than 
the hospitality accorded it by primary teachers, who, 
in work such as this, reinforce its influence and 
strengthen its hold. 

Of them may it be truly said that they have realized 
Froebel's deepest desire, for they too show us how to 
" live with the children." 



II. 

THE DISTRIBUTION AND CARE OF MATERIALS 
FOR BUSY WORK 

INFORMAL LETTERS FROM TEACHERS 
I. 

In considering the subject of seat work, one of the 
first questions with me has been " How can I distribute 
the material with the least waste of time ? " 

I confess that the problem is not an easy one. To 
facilitate matters I keep as much material as possible 
in individual boxes. Letters, tablets, sticks, and pegs 
are so arranged. It insures a more equitable division 
and a more orderly distribution. 

When it is at all practicable I allow each child to 
keep his own box in his desk. Pegs are always kept 
in this way. The first of the year the boxes are filled 
with common shoemaker's pegs, which the children at 
once proceed to scatter more or less lavishly upon the 
floor. Then I exhibit to their admiring gaze a box 
of colored pegs, with the assurance that those children 
who do not drop any pegs for a week shall have theirs 
exchanged for these beautiful things. The excitement 
is intense, and when, at the appointed time, a dozen or 
more children have earned the new ones, I know the 
battle is won, for no self-respecting child will tamely 
allow his neighbor to revel in the luxury of colored 
pegs while he ignobly counts the mean little white ones. 



DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALS 9 

Then if a child does not take proper care of the new 
ones, they are taken away and he is given the white 
ones again until he has learned to be careful. I rarely 
have to do this, however. 

In many schools the children bring boxes for pegs 
or letters, but as mine are not able to provide them, 
I get small pasteboard boxes about an inch deep and 
two and a half inches square for the pegs, and others 
twice as large for the letters. The small boxes cost 
from ten to fifteen cents a dozen, and the larger ones 
from fifteen to twenty cents. In the box with the 
pegs may also be kept the wooden square which the 
children use in outlining the dominoes for number work. 

The other material in boxes is in charge of groups of 
three or four children who are taught how to care for 
and distribute it. These groups are changed from time 
to time, to allow others to be useful as well as distin- 
guished. If the material is to be used early in the ses- 
sion, it is distributed before school and collected at 
recess. If after recess, it is distributed at recess and 
collected after school. 

The material which is more easily cared for, like 
paper, pictures for tracing, scissors, etc., is passed by 
one child from each row, who is very attentive, or has 
made some special effort in the right direction during 
the session. Thus all the children are eligible to the 
honor. 

Of course there is occasionally something that I have 

to distribute myself, but I try to do as little of that work 

as possible, since the responsibility is good for the 

children. 

C. A. S. 



io PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

II. 

Teach the child at the head of each line to act as 
" monitor," " helper," or " distributer," or choose the 
child who has tried to do his best during the preceding 
lesson. 

Children soon learn where materials are kept if the 
places are easily accessible to them, and a bit of judi- 
cious praise to the child who returns a thing to its 
proper place will soon bring the class as a whole to a 
condition of care-taking. 

Begin the first of September with the pegs. Let 
some careful child go to the . closet and find the box 
containing them, then direct him how to give them to 
the class. Use a small cup or box as a measure. The 
child at the end of the line should always be supplied 
first. With the whole class attending, I praise or criti- 
cise the way in which the monitor does his work. By 
pursuing this method for a few days, several children 
may be efficiently trained, and gradually nearly all the 
members of the class. 

Such a drill as this given with three or four different 
materials should be sufficient, though a few explicit 
directions may be needed when any new material is 
given out, later in the year. I never begin to work 
myself till I see that every child has begun his work. 

The first of the year I have the pencils given out 
when needed. After that time each child who brings 
a neat pasteboard box receives a pencil to keep. The 
pencils are sharpened regularly twice a week ; it takes 
only five minutes to go through the class. If any child 
breaks a point between whiles, I mend it for him, if he 
asks before or after school. 



DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALS n 

It seems well for each child to have some form of 
busy work in his desk for spare moments. For this 
I find a box of pegs, or letters, or books, the best. 
The books are changed once a month, so they are 
always entertaining. M. S. C. 

III. 

If the teacher of the first grade will devote a few 
days before the opening of school in September to the 
preparation of busy work for the coming year, she will 
find it a good investment of time, and congratulate her- 
self for this forehandedness many times over. 

There is quite a difference of opinion among teachers 
as to which portion of the material used for busy work 
may with profit be kept in the desks, and which had 
best be cared for by the teacher. 

The material kept in desks needs, of course, over- 
sight by the teacher. All agree that a great deal of 
the material cannot be kept in the desks from day to 
day. Some of that most commonly used can, with 
advantage, be so kept. A set of shelves, protected by 
a door or curtain, is a great convenience. On these the 
material may be kept, stored in boxes. It is easily ac- 
cessible, and comparatively free from dust. A table will 
answer the purpose, if the shelves cannot be obtained. 

Whenever possible, a child should have his own in- 
dividual pencil, crayons, scissors, foot-rule, paint-box, 
and pegs. One large box will hold all, with the ex- 
ception of pegs, which may be kept in a bag about 
five inches square, hung upon the iron crossbar of the 
desk. The loop of the string should be long, to allow 
of the bag being pulled through the loop, thus obviat- 
ing the use of tacks. 



iz PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Spool boxes are almost invaluable for keeping mate- 
rial in good condition, and are easily distributed. 

Letters, words, and pictures for matching or other 
uses may be kept in the same way, or in envelopes 
which are placed in a compartment box. 

Beads, counters, button-moulds, strings, etc., should 
be kept in boxes. 

White and colored paper, cut into proper sizes and 
shape for various exercises, should always be found on 
the shelf or table. M. E. W. 

IV. 

I like to give out two kinds of busy work at once, 
one kind for plain fare and one kind for dessert; the 
first kind, like copying, making number pictures, mak- 
ing words or sentences with letters, or equations with 
figures, to be finished before the other kind is taken. 
Then the children who have worked quietly and busily, 
and have done their best, use the other busy work. 
For this I use stencils, the colored paper forms for 
sorting and making geometrical designs, pegs in the 
rainbow colors for designs, pictures with the words to 
match them, tracing paper with pictures, paper-cutting, 
and so forth. 

I make the busy work for one day a help to the work 
of that day, or a review and drill on work that has been 
done, or a preparation for something which is to be 
taught. 

The children usually distribute and collect the mate- 
rial. The directions are often given before the material 
is distributed, and then one child can do the work 
while I am teaching another group. B>E. D. 



III. 

SENSE TRAINING 

All teachers of lowest primary grades will find in their 
classes many children who are not mature enough to do the 
work which is provided for first-grade pupils. They have 
not yet learned to observe carefully, and therefore cannot imi- 
tate well ; their muscles are not trained to hold the pencil or 
the scissors ; they have very little ability to construct ; they 
cannot imagine the conditions which are expressed in the 
sentence or in the problem in number. 

For such pupils it is absolutely necessary to provide exer- 
cises which will afford practice in observation, imitation, and 
construction. Exercises of this sort have been prepared, and 
are here grouped under the title " Sense Training." They 
will be found helpful for immature pupils in both first and 
second grades, and valuable for all first-grade children in the 
first half-year of their school-work. Many of the exercises can 
be made helpful if related to the ordinary class instruction, 
even through the second grade. 

The young teacher may need the suggestion that the work 
with figures and words, which is so often attempted by little 
children, often hinders their progress, by presenting forms 
which represent no idea to them. They work with figures, 
but do not think numbers ; they work with words, but do not 
associate the form with the idea. Therefore their reading is 
mechanical, and their " number sense " develops very slowly. 
The foundation for rapid and accurate work in the future lies 
in the development of observation, imagination, and skill in 



i 4 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

doing. It is a mistake to count such occupation as mere " busy 
work." It is worth while to give the time allotted to the reci- 
tation to instruction in these exercises, that the children may 
become independent and helpful in their future practice. In 
these exercises teaching should precede doing, and the children 
should be left to independent practice only when they have 
learned how to follow the teacher's directions. — Ed. 



EXERCISES IN OBSERVATION, IMITATION, AND 
CONSTRUCTION 



Material : colored pegs, sticks, split peas, or lentils. 

Note : Practice in arranging pegs may first be given in sim- 
ple line work. Direction : Make a line as long as your 
longest finger; make another a little way from that, and 
of the same length ; fill your desk-top with lines of just 
the same length. Or, make a line as long as your little 
finger; make another twice as long; another three times 
as long, etc. Or, make a small square, make one twice 
as large. Or, make a small oblong, make one twice as long, 
but the same width, etc. 

1. Assort the pegs according to color. Grade I. 

2. Make a simple border, following a pattern which 
is drawn upon the board, and using pegs of a given 
color. Grade I. 

3. Copy a simple border, using any color or colors 
at will. Grade I. 

4. Make original border or other design, choosing 
colors at will. Grade I. 

5. Reproduce with pegs one or more of the figures 
upon the chart. (See pages 118-125.) Grade I. 



SENSE TRAINING 15 

6. Outline with pegs a geometric figure which has 
previously been drawn upon a large sheet of card- 
board. Grade I. 

7. Outline letters, as in 6. Grade I. 

8. Lay vertical, horizontal, or slanting lines, no re- 
strictions as to length being given. Grade I. 

9. Lay the same lines at given lengths, first by 
measure, then by the eye alone. Grades I. and II. 

10. Lay a square of a given color. Grade I. 

11. Lay a square, using pegs of one color, and make 
the diameters out of pegs of a different color. Grade I. 

12. Lay a square, using pegs of a given color, and 
make the diagonals of a contrasting color. Grade I. 

13. Lay oblongs, circles, and triangles in the same 
manner. Grades I. and II. 

14. Lay right angles, using pegs of a given or chosen 
color. Grade I. 

15. Make borders, using right angles only. 

Grades I. and II. 

16. Lay acute or obtuse angles. 

17. Make borders in which acute angles are repeated. 

Grades I., II., and III. 

18. Lay squares, rectangles, and triangles of given 
dimensions as directed by teacher. Grades I., II., and ill. 

19. Copy simple pictures in outline, as houses, 
trees, etc. Grade I. 

20. Repeat a given number of lines, vertical, hori- 
zontal, and parallel. Copy outlines of objects, such as 
clock, chair, house, etc. The exercises may be in- 
creased in difficulty by requiring a definite number 
of pegs to a line. Grade I. 

21. Lay designs with pegs, then copy on paper. As 
an incentive, the most faithful children may color them 
with crayons. Grade I. 



16 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

22. Lay a square with pegs and inscribe a circle or 
a triangle. Grade I. 

23. Lay a circle, and inscribe a square or triangle. 

Grade I. 

24. Lay with pegs some form connected with the 
work of the day, no pattern being given. Grade I. 



II. 

Material : Paper or cardboard, cut in geometrical 
forms of different shapes, sizes, colors. 

Note : Boxes of prepared tablets may be obtained for this 
purpose, but a collection prepared by the teacher herself, 
or made with the assistance of the older children, will be 
even more helpful for the general purpose of assorting and 
arranging. The tablets which are cut by machine will be 
more helpful in making designs, as they will be more exact 
than those made by the pupils. 

1. Assort forms according to color. Grade I. 

2. Assort according to size. Grade I. 

3. Assort according to shape. Place together those 
which are like in form without regard to size. Grade I. 

4. Place in rows figures having same number of 
sides. Grade I. 

5. Assort the forms according to angles, placing 
together those forms which have right angles, and 
SO on. Grades I. and II. 

6. Copy a given form exactly and then repeat, in- 
creasing the size but retaining the proportion. 

Grades I. and II. 

7. Draw picture of some object which is like a given 

form. Grades I. and II. 



SENSE TRAINING 17 

8. Instead of the cardboard forms, use seeds having 
different shapes and sizes. These may be assorted as 
in the above exercises. Grade I. 



III. 

FOLDING 

Material: Paper in geometric forms which may be 
folded, pressed, or cut, in straight lines. 

1. Fold and cut paper in straight lines. Grade I. 

2. Fold and cut squares and oblongs on their diame- 
ters or diagonals. Grade I. 

3. Fold and cut circles on their diameters. Grade I. 

4. Fold and cut paper squares into pin wheels. 

Grade I. 

5. Get the square from the oblong paper by folding 
down the superfluous piece. Grade 1. 

6. The different angles may be folded from the 
square, from the oblong and circle. Grades Land II. 

7. Fold, from memory, any forms which have been 
previously dictated. Grades I., II., and III. 

8. Fold and cut strips of paper into halves and 
fourths. Grades Land II. 

9. Fold and cut forms into thirds, fourths, etc. 

Grades II. and III. 

10. Fold circles into halves and fourths. Grade I. 

11. Draw forms to represent a folded piece of paper. 

Grades I. and II. 

12. Fold and cut hats and dresses for paper dolls. 

13. Fold and cut furniture for doll-houses, — chairs, 
tables, bureaus, boxes, etc. Grades I., II., and in. 



18 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

IV. 

CUTTING 

Material: Paper and pencils, scissors and cardboard 
patterns. 

1. Mark around pattern and then cut out the figure. 
(Use geometric forms or representations of leaf, flower, 
or familiar object.) Grade I. 

2. Cut pictures from papers. Grade I. 

3. Cut designs which have been folded. 

Grades I. and II. 

4. Cut squares, triangles, etc., of a given size, free- 
hand. Grades I., II., and III. 

5. Cut straight lines which have been ruled, thus 
learning to cut to a line. Grade I. 

6. Fold and cut sheets of paper which are to be used 
in the class for different purposes. Grade I. 

7. Cut and dress paper dolls at pleasure. Grade I. 

8. Cut, from paper or cardboard, representations of 
household furniture, boxes, bureaus, bookcases, desks, 
chairs, sofas, beds, etc. Grades I., II., and III. 

9. Cut, from seed and vegetable catalogues, pictures 
of the fruits and flowers. Paste them upon cards and 
write the name under each. Grades Land II. 

10. Cut, free-hand, from paper, forms of animal and 
vegetable life. Grades L, II., and III. 

11. Cut, free-hand, representations of familiar stories. 

Grades I., II., and III. 

12. Colored paper may be folded and cut into strips 
for chains for decorating the room or the Christmas 
tree. Grades I., II., and III. 

Note: This is a very valuable exercise because all the children 
may unite in the work. 



SENSE TRAINING 



STRINGING BEADS, SEEDS, AND BERRIES 

Material : Wooden beads in different geometric forms, 
or glass beads, straws or even wooden button-moulds 
stained in different colors. 

1. String the beads, arranging the colors and forms 
at pleasure. Grade I. 

2. String in twos, threes, or fours, using given 

colors. Grade I. 

3. String two and one, or three and one, etc., using 
given colors. Grade I. 

4. String seeds and berries to form a fringe or deco- 
ration for the school-room door or window. Grade I. 



VI. 

CLAY MODELING 

Material: Clay. 

1. Model fruit which has been studied in the class 

exercise. Grades I., II., and III. 

2. Model geometric solids after observing them in 
the class exercise. Grades I., II., and III. 

3. A tile may be moulded and decorated by im- 
pression. Grade I. 

4. The impress of leaves may be taken by laying a 

flat mat of clay on a square or circle of paper, laying 

the leaf upon the clay and pressing down firmly. With 

a pin, the leaf may then be outlined upon the clay. 

Grade I. 

5. Sand pans, or clay, may be used to mould hills, 
valleys, farms, etc., something to represent houses, trees, 
and animals being provided. Grades I., II., and III. 



zo PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

6. Model cocoons, or any other natural objects stud- 
ied in the school-room. Grades I., II., and III. 

Note : Numbers 3 and 4 are not approved for higher grades. 
Clay should be placed in a mass on tile and picked up into 
the desired form. 

VII. 

EXERCISES TO DEVELOP POWER TO RECOGNIZE, 
NAME, AND ARRANGE COLORS 

Material : Colored paper, worsteds, paints, etc. 

1. Give each child a box, envelope, or handful of 
papers, or cardboard squares, circles or oblongs, of 
different colors. Let him sort according to color. 

These forms may be bought at school-supply rooms, 
or the teacher may cut them from paper or cardboard 
at very small expense. Grade I. 

2. Mark colored paper in narrow strips. Provide 
each child with scissors, and let him cut on the pencilled 
line. 

If the children are unskillful with the scissors, let them 
practice cutting the blue lines that are found on white 
writing paper. Grade I. 

The colored slips may be used for weaving, or the 
ends may be pasted together to form a chain, like a 
dandelion chain. 

3. Fill envelopes with colored paper cut in any 
desired form. 

Each envelope should contain six or seven tints and 
shades of each of the standard colors. 

Each child, on receiving an envelope, should be 
directed to select all the tints and shades of one color 
and arrange them in scale from light to dark. Or, he 



SENSE TRAINING 21 

may place all the reds in one pile, all the blues in an- 
other, and SO on. Grades I., II., and III. 

4. Give every pupil an envelope containing paper 
oblongs in the spectrum colors. Direct him to arrange 
in the order of the spectrum. 

5. Give every pupil an envelope containing squares, 
circles, triangles, and other forms. Arrange in designs. 

(Tints and shades may be added later.) 

Grades I., II., and III. 

6. Direct children to trace circles on colored paper. 
Provide scissors and have these circles cut out and 

preserved for future use in laying designs or in pasting. 
Other forms may be used. If the children are allowed 
to keep this collection in their desks, it is likely to 
provide an unending source of entertainment for other- 
wise idle moments. Grades I. and II. 

7. Provide each child with a pasteboard circle four or 
five inches in diameter, also a sheet of colored paper. 

Direct him to place the cardboard on the sheet of 
paper and trace around it, then cut it on the pencilled 
line. 

A number of circles may be cut and folded into 
halves, fourths, or eighths. If well cut, the parts may 
be arranged in designs and pasted. 

Two sizes of circles may be used, thus increasing the 
possibility of pleasing designs. Grades I., II., and III. 

8. Shapes of leaves, flowers, plants, and vegetables 
may be cut from colored cardboard. 

These may be sorted according to color and shape. 

Later in the year, the children may trace around these 
forms. 

This material may be gathered from magazines and 
papers, and especially seedsmen's catalogues. Grade I. 



22 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

9. Direct the children to sort in separate piles the 
colored tablets which have been provided, putting all 
the circles of one color in one pile ; below put all the 
squares of same color, then the oblongs. Grade I. 

10. Let the children arrange the colors in the spec- 
trum order. Grades I., II., and III. 

11. Let them make a color scale from the darkest to 
the lightest, or vice versa. Grades I., II., and ill. 

12. Direct them to select a given form of a given 
color. Grade I. 

13. Form borders of given colors. Grades I., II., and III. 

14. Make designs in given colors. Grades I., II., and III. 

15. Make designs in any chosen colors. (The teach- 
er should be careful to commend those designs which 
are harmonious in coloring and arrangement.) 

Grades I., II., and III. 

16. Arrange, on slips of cardboard, seven colors and 
their names. Place one slip in an envelope with six 
duplicates of each color and name. 

Give such an envelope to each child, directing him to 
match colors and attach the fitting name to each. 

Later in the term, letters may be added to the con- 
tents of the envelope and the words formed from these. 

Grade I. 

17. Use worsteds of the prismatic colors cut into 
pieces one inch and two inches long. 

Give a handful of pieces to each child and direct him 
to arrange them in different piles, according to color. 

Grade I. 

Later in the year, tints and shades may be added, 
making the sorting more difficult. 

(The worsteds may also be sorted according to 
lengths. Bits of silk and ribbon may be used instead of 

worsteds.) Grades I. and II. 



SENSE TRAINING 23 

18. Allow the children to paint representations of 
natural objects. Paint-boxes may be kept in the desk. 

The pencil should not be used to outline in the 
painting exercises. 

VIII. 

WEAVING 

Weaving is one of the most profitable occupations for 
primary classes. It may be begun in the first grade, 
and may be used with advantage through all primary 
classes. 

In teaching the process, use mats of some durable 
material, as leather, enamel cloth, or curtain holland. 
These mats may be 4 X 6 inches, and should be cut 
with a penknife and ruler into strips one half an inch 
wide, leaving an uncut margin of equal width on the 
four sides of the mat. Instead of the mats, slate-frames 
may be used, with broad tapes tacked from end to end 
for the woof or foundation. 

Use inch or half-inch splints in the first lessons. The 
simplest pattern is one under, one over, one under, one 
over, and so on. The second splint would, of course, 
reverse the order. 

More difficult patterns may be introduced after facility 
has been acquired. As soon as the children understand 
the use of the mats and the splints, they may construct 
little looms for themselves and weave mats of raffia and 
cord. 

Raffia is a fibrous material which florists use in tying 
plants. It may be bought of the florist for a compara- 
tively small sum ; twenty-five cents would supply an 
ordinary class for a month or six weeks. 



24 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

A convenient loom may be made from an old slate- 
frame. The lengthwise strands, or the woof, may be 
made of cord fastened upon tacks in the frame of the 
slate. The warp, or filling, may be of raffia, or long 
strips of cloth, or even of splints. In using the cord 
and raffia, or cloth, the children will tend to make the 
mat narrow in the middle. This may be prevented by 
using long knitting-needles or strips of stout wire for 
the two outside strands, and withdrawing them after 
the mat is completed. 

The advantage of this sort of weaving is that the 
product is a comparatively durable article which may 
be put to some use for the child. The mat may deco- 
rate the doll-house, or may be placed under the ink- 
stand on the desk, or beneath a vase of flowers or a 
growing plant. If stout enough, it may be used as 
a holder. 

In connection with these lessons, the children should 
observe the garments which have been woven for them. 
The story of the old-time weaving should be told to 
them, and lessons upon textile materials — wool, flax ; 
cotton, and silk — should be added. 

The old-fashioned spool knitting-work which every 
teacher knows, is also recommended. The knitting 
may be done with cotton yarn, worsted, woollen 
yarn, or with cord, and the product sewed into mats, 
holders, etc. 

Simple basket-making may be added in schools 
where material can be easily secured, and where a 
basket-maker is ready to give the teacher a few prac- 
tical lessons. 



SENSE TRAINING 25 

IX. 
MIS CELL ANEOUS 

Little children should not be required to work at 
their desks more than a half-hour at a time, without 
exercise. 

The children of Grade I. may be sent into the cor- 
ridors, or better still, out of doors, for two or three 
minutes' vigorous play with bean-bags or balls. Some 
older children from other classes may accompany them. 

Children of any grade may be sent out to collect seeds 
or leaves of a certain tree or plant, as a reward for faith- 
ful work. 

Work at the table or blackboard should alternate 
with work at the seat, whenever feasible. Many of 
the exercises taken in the seats may just as easily be 
performed at the blackboard. 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, AND 
READING 



IV. 
LANGUAGE, SPELLING, AND READING 

Exercise i. — Matching words which accompany and 
name a picture. To be used chiefly in Grade I. 
Suitable for first three months of school. 

Material : Pictures or sketches ; printed words ; envel- 
opes. 

Procure from the printer slips of printed words, hav- 
ing many duplicates of each word. One hundred dupli- 
cates of each word is a sufficient number to work with 
in a school of forty children. 

These slips can be printed for about fifty cents a 
thousand, if a large number is ordered. If the slips are 
cut into separate words by the printer, the cost will be 
slightly increased. 

Cut pictures from old books, illustrating the words 
which are taught in the reading lessons during the first 
two months. Or, if you are able to sketch, draw the 
desired pictures in hectograph ink, and hectograph the 
sketches. These pictures should be separated into sets 
of five or six, each set containing a group of words hav- 
ing some relation to one another; for example, papa, 
mamma, Alice, Willie, baby, in one set. Flower, leaf, 
bud, tree, garden, in another set. 

If sixty different words are printed, and correspond- 
ing, pictures obtained, the teacher has materials for ten 
different sets of envelopes. In envelope one are put 



3° 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



five or six pictures and five or six words corresponding 
to each picture, one of the words being firmly glued to 
the picture. There will then be about twenty-five loose 
words in the envelopes. 

The child proceeds to match the loose words to those 
attached to the picture. It is of the greatest impor- 
tance that time should be taken to hear him repeat 
the words at the close of the busy work period. When 
he is able to match the words in the first set, quickly 
and correctly, a second set is given to him ; if there 
are ten sets, he teaches himself sixty words in this 
way. 

It is better that this matching of whole words should 
precede the matching of letters or the forming of words 
from letters. Recognition of entire words should pre- 
cede the analysis of words into letters. 

The words may be written in script if preferred. By 
using script for board work and print for seat work, 
script and print are carried along easily together. 

MODEL 



garden 
(Picture) 


flower 
(Picture) 


leaf 
(Picture) 


bud 
(Picture) 


tree 
(Picture) 



garden 


flower 


leaf 


bud 


tree 


garden 


flower 


leaf 


bud 


tree 


garden 


flower 


leaf 


bud 


tree 


garden 


flower 


leaf 


bud 


tree 


garden 


flower 


leaf 


bud 


tree 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 31 

Exercise 2. — Matching words which have been 
learned in the reading lesson. Grades I. and II. 

Material: Words copied on the hectograph, and en- 
velopes or boxes. 

Using hectograph ink, divide a sheet of paper into 
squares, and write in each square a word which has 
been learned by the class. Make duplicate copies by 
using the hectograph. 

A box and a sheet of words are given to each child. 
By following the lines of the squares, the children are 
able to cut their own words, and place them in the 
boxes which are kept in the desks. 

New words may be added from time to time as they 
are learned in the board lessons. These words afford 
a variety of exercises. The child may place the words 
which he knows at one side of the desk, and those he 
does not know at the other side. Or he may arrange 
them in some certain order on the blackboard. Or, 
if there are several duplicates of each word, he may 
sort the words, placing together those which are alike. 
Later in the year these words may be used to form 
sentences, which may be original or copied. 

Caution : Be sure to take time to hear the children re- 
peat the words which they have arranged on their desks. 

Exercise 3. — Finding, matching, and arranging 
words. Grade I. 

Material: Cardboard containing large copy of each 
word, boxes or envelopes containing printed dupli- 
cates of the same word. 

After teaching fifty words as wholes, write each word 
in script with a rubber pen upon a sheet of cardboard 



3 z PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

about ten inches long and five wide. As these words 
are to be seen by the children across the room, it is 
necessary that they should be written in a very large 
plain hand. 

With twine, fasten six of these words together to form 
a ladder. Form nine or ten of these ladders. At first 
hang one of these ladders on the wall. Give the chil- 
dren boxes containing these same words in print, two 
copies of each word on all the ladders, — about one 
hundred words in all. The child forms the ladder twice 
on his desk. As he is obliged to search among all his 
words for the correct ones, he is employed for a con- 
siderable time, during which period he is attentively 
observing the forms of the words. Soon all the ladders 
may be hung upon the wall and the child may copy 
any that he chooses. The boxes and words are num- 
bered so that lost words may be returned to the box in 
which they belong. 

This is good work for spare minutes, and is suit- 
able for use at any time during the year. 

Exercise 4. — Individual work selected by the pupils. 

Grades I. and II. 
Material : Blank book, or block of paper. 

Each child may have a block of paper in his desk to 
be used as a " scribbling block." He is allowed to put 
anything he chooses upon it. If preferred, a small 
book may be made by fastening several sheets of paper 
together with clasp-fasteners. 

Exercise 5. — Tracing and copying. Grade I. 

Material: Written word or sentence; the paper for 
copying. 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 33 

Give each child a slip of paper, on which is written a 
sentence or word in large script. The child first traces 
over the lines on the slip, then copies the same word or 
sentence on another slip of paper. 

Exercise 6. — Finding and matching words. Grade I. 

Material : Pictures, envelopes, printed words. 

Have envelopes filled with pictures. On each picture 
is written the word which is suggested by the picture. 
On the outside of each envelope are written the words 
corresponding to the pictures within. The children 
place the pictures on the desk in the order designated 
on the envelope. This necessitates finding and matching 
the words. 

Exercise 7. — To secure familiarity with forms of 
letters. Grade I. 

Material : Sheets of cardboard containing large letters. 

Letters one and two inches in height are drawn on 
cardboard (6x8 in.). 

The children may cover the outlines with split peas 
or lentils. 

Later they may lay the letter on the desk and copy 
the outline. 

Finally, they may copy words in the same way from a 
slip of paper, or from the board. 

Exercise 8. — Sentence-building. Grades I. and II. 

Material : Written or printed sentences cut into sepa- 
rate words, envelopes. 

On the outside of envelopes write or print five or six 
sentences. Write or print five or six copies of the 

3 



34 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

same sentences, cut up into separate words, and place 
in the envelope. The children find the words of the 
sentences and place them on the desk in the order 
indicated on the outside of the envelope. 

Exercise 9. — Drill in recognizing words. 

Grades I. and II. 

Material : Scraps from newspapers or magazines. 

Pupils .mark words which they can recognize and 
name. 

After teaching a word or letter, give the children a 
page of an old magazine or book, or a bit of newspaper, 
and let them draw a line through the word or letter, 
wherever they may find it. 

Exercise 10. — Finding words in unfamiliar pages. 

Grades I. and II. 
Material: Scraps from magazines. 

Let the children hunt in the pages of magazines, etc., 
for words of one letter, two letters, three letters, etc., 
and cross them when found. Let them mark all known 
words which they find on the paper given to them. 

Let them hunt for words beginning with capitals, or 
for words beginning with certain letters, or for words 
whose initial letters follow in the order of the alphabet, 
or for words that end in a certain letter. 



Exercise 11. — Copying sentences. 

Grades I., II., and III. 

Material: Sentences written upon the blackboard, 
printed slips ; hectograph. 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 35 

The children may copy maxims, or poetry from the 
blackboard, or better, from printed slips on the desk. 
The hectograph may be used in writing the slips. 

Exercise 12. — Assorting words. Grades I., II., and III. 

Material: Printed pages mounted upon cardboard, 
cut into separate words. 

Paste leaves of worn-out books on this cardboard or 
stiff paper and cut the sheet into words. Give each 
child a generous handful. He may separate words of 
two letters from those of three, four, or five. Or he 
may place together words of two letters, those of three 
letters, etc. 

Children may select words beginning or ending with 
a certain letter of the alphabet, or words like those 
written on the board. Later in the year the children 
can tell by sight or sound most of the words, and 
may place known words at one side of the desk, and 
unknown at the other side. 

Exercise 13. — Word-building. Grades I. and II. 

Material ; The alphabet, in separate letters on 
cardboard. 

Procure from the printer, cards containing many 
copies of the alphabet. He will cut them up, if pre- 
ferred. Provide an envelope for each child, and 
place ten sets of letters in each envelope. On s 
the outside of each envelope place a combina- w 
tion of letters occurring very frequently in words ; th 
e. g., ing. Underneath these letters place conso- 
nants. The child finds the letters designated and 
those required to complete the words of the same 



36 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

" family," and places them on his desk in the order 
indicated on the envelope. 

Exercise 14. — Making lists of words. Grades I. and II. 

Material : Words containing certain sounds. 

Print five vowels with a pen, on the outside of strong 
envelopes. Make on the hectograph five lists of short 
words, ten words in each list. Each list should contain 
words having the same vowel sound ; for example, cat, 
fat, man, can, ran, rat, hat, that, cap, trap, bell, sell, tell, 
well, fed, bed, red, Ned, pet, wet, etc. 

Cut up the lists into single words, and place words 
of all the lists in each envelope. Place on the board 
the five vowels and call the attention of the children to 
" a," giving the sound. Ask them to find all the words 
in their envelopes containing that sound, and place 
them in a row on the desk. Proceed in the same way 
with each of the other vowels. 

It will be necessary to work with the children for a few 
lessons before giving them this exercise as busy work. 

Exercise 15. — Like Exercise 14. Grades I. and II. 

A second set of envelopes may be prepared contain- 
ing combinations of letters frequently found in words — 
namely, ship, dish, wish, shed, shut, shot, sheep, shell, 
fish, — words containing the letters oa, ow> etc. This 
exercise may be given after the children have made some 
progress in phonics. 

Exercise 16. — Arranging letters of the alphabet. 

Grade I. 
Material : Boxes of letters. 

From his box containing the letters of the alphabet, 
duplicated ten times, the child first puts all like letters 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 37 

together, repeating the names to the teacher, at the 
end of busy work period. 

Next place the letters in alphabetical order. Then 
he may form short words with these letters, having a 
copy on a slip, or on the board. 

Exercise 17. — Copying sentences. Grades I. and II. 

Material: Boxes of letters. 

Copy sentences, with the letters, from slip or board. 
Make original sentences in the same way. 

Note: Exercises 16-18 should be employed chiefly at the 
period when the children need practice in recognizing 
and naming the letters, and while they are fixing the order 
of the alphabet. 

Exercise 18. — Copying sentences. Grades I. and II. 

Material: Pictures cut from magazines; written 
sentences. 

Cut from books and magazines good pictures about 
two inches square. Paste these on school writing-paper. 
Write a few sentences about the picture. Let the 
children copy the sentences. 

Exercise 19. — Story-telling by the aid of pictures. 

Grades I., II., and III. 

Material: Pictures and words. 

On the next set of papers, place a picture and a few 
suggestive words. Now the children write the story by 
aid of these words. 

Finally the children construct a story from the picture, 
without any aid. 



38 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Variety in this exercise is afforded by allowing chil- 
dren to write simply names of objects seen in the 
picture. 

Exercise 20. — Copying sentences. Grades I. and II. 

Material: Printed sentences. 

Give children slips of paper containing printed sen- 
tences. Under the printed sentence, the child writes 
the same sentence. 

Next paste four or five sentences from old First 
Readers on a card. Give each child a card. He is to 
write these sentences on paper given to him. 

Later, use books for the same purpose. 

Exercise 21. — Finding and copying sentences of a 
certain kind. Grades I., II., and III. 

Material: First Readers. 

During the last few months the children are able 
to find a few "telling" (declarative) and " asking " 
(interrogative) sentences, from any First Reader, and 
copy same on paper. 

Exercise 22. — Silent reading. Grades I., II., and III. 

Material : Books or scraps pasted upon cardboard. 

Let the children study sentences from a card and, 
after reading silently, copy on paper. Later, let them 
write the sentences from memory. 

Later (during last five months of first grade) the 
children may read books in their seats. 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 39 

Exercise 23. — School library. 

Grades I., II., and III. 

Material: Collection of picture-books. 

Have a collection of picture-books which the children 
may take when other work is finished, or at the teacher's 
pleasure. 

Exercise 24. — Make lists of words, following direc- 
tions. Grades I. and II. 

Material : Boxes of letters. 

With letters the child makes the words of the spelling 
lesson which have been written on the board. 

Later, he makes with letters lists containing names of 
ten birds, ten trees, etc. 

After this exercise with separate letters, the child 
is better able to do the same thing with pencil and 
paper. 

Exercise 25. — Filling blanks. Grades I. and II. 

Material: Prepared sentences. 

Write on slips of paper easy sentences, leaving 

blanks ; namely, " I see a dog." Let each child 

have a few slips, and copy the sentences on paper, 
filling in the blank. 

Exercise 26. — Copying sentences. Grades I. and II. 

Material: Slips from old writing-books. 

If possible, procure, from firms publishing writing- 
books, slips containing letters of alphabet, capital and 



+ o PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

small. These may be hectographed by teacher if they 
cannot be otherwise obtained. 

The children use these as a copy at the desk. 



Exercise 27. — Original sentences. Grades I. and II. 

Material: Paper and pencil. 

Place on the board the name of some interesting 
object, as " doll." The children write as many sen- 
tences as they can about the object. 

Exercise 28. — Preparing for oral spelling. 

Grades I. and II. 
Material: Paper and pencil. 

The children select three words from the reading- 
book, and make a neat column, by repeating these 
words a certain number of times on paper. 

Later in the day these papers are collected, and the 
children have a lesson in oral spelling. Each child 
spells the three words that are found on his paper. 
The pupils who fail take their papers and study again. 

This exercise is practically free from the objection 
used against oral spelling, — that the children are 
obliged to listen to incorrect spelling. 

Exercise 29. — Matching words, an aid in making the 
transition from script to print. Grade I. 

Material: As each word is taught from the board, 
make from twenty-five to thirty copies of it, both 
in script and print. Use black ink for the script and 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 41 

red ink for the printed form. Place the script and 
printed forms of the several words in boxes or 
envelopes, ready for distribution. 
Direction: Use this material for busy work, preparatory 
to the transition from board to chart, or from board 
to books. 



V. 

LANGUAGE, SPELLING, AND READING 

( Continue (T) 

Exercises to be used chiefly in Grades II. and III. 

Exercise i. — Spelling charts. 

Make spelling charts of lists of words. Charts may- 
be separated into those of words with " short a," " long 
a," etc. Charts may be made of large sheets of heavy 
manila paper, the words written with a rubber pen, 
large enough to be seen across the school-room. Each 
child should be provided with a box of letters. Let 
children form words from chart one day ; the next day 
reproduce as many as possible from memory. Later 
in the year, words from reading-book may be utilized, 
any given sound being the basis of work. 

Exercise 2. — Stories from pictures. 

Pictures may be made useful, if they are cut out and 
mounted. Each child has a picture and some letters. 
He is to study the picture carefully, then place it at the 
top of his desk, and make a sentence or sentences about 
it with his letters. 

Exercise 3. — Language cards. 

A set of language cards, each having a picture with a 
story on one side, may be used as follows : — 

The story is cut from the picture, and each sentence 
cut up into words or phrases. The original story, 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 43 

written on heavy paper or cardboard, is put into an 
envelope with the picture and cut-up sentences. The 
children are to arrange the sentences. Later in the 
year, the pictures alone (without the sentences), and 
others collected for the purpose, are given out with 
boxes of letters, and simple stories about the pictures 
are made by children. 

Exercise 4. — Lists of words. 

Use boxes of letters, or write the lists. 

1. Lists of hard words are made. 

2. Lists of words beginning with certain letter or 
sound. 

3. Lists ofwords containing a certain letter or sound. 

4. Lists ofwords having a given ending. 

5. Words of the special reading lesson. 

6. Sentences which tell something. 

7. Sentences which ask questions. 

Exercise 5. — Copying or building phonic lists. 

Class to write lists of words, building from certain 
combinations, as 

at ate 

that plate 
flat slate 

Pupils to write lists of words (a definite number, as ten 
or twenty) beginning with a given letter or letters, as, 
b, g y v, wh, th; or words having a given combination 
of letters within the word, as, ai, ea, ie y ow, oa ; or 
words which end with silent e, or /, or ing ; or words 
which have a double consonant or vowel. 



44 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Exercise 6. — " Catch words." 

Children to write lists of catch words ; that is, words 
with silent letters, as thought. The ugh does not speak, 
and must be "caught" and put into the word, else it 
" catches " the children when spelling. 

Exercise 7. — Lists of words containing a given num- 
ber of letters. 

Class to write columns of words containing a certain 
number of letters or syllables. 

Exercise 8. — Words in sentences. 

The first part of the school year, words printed or 
written on cards may be given to the pupils. 



BALL 



BREAKFAST 



WHEN 



Each child studies the words on his cards, then writes 
them on paper. Later, the children may put these 
words into sentences. 



Exercise 9. — Words from reading lesson. 

After the words at the head of the lesson in the Reader 
have been sounded and spelled, pupils may look for 
them in the story, and make lists, putting number of 
paragraph in which each is found over the word ; for 
example, — . - 

loved children 



board 

5 
course 



3 
asked 

7 
said 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 45 

Exercise 10. — Phonic lists enclosed in a frame. 

At the beginning of the school year, after a sound drill, 
each child is given a cardboard oblong, 2 by 4 inches. 
He is to draw around it, and in the enclosed space 
write all the words he can find in his Reader containing 
the sound or sounds just reviewed. 

Exercise 11. — Use of clippings. 

Columns from a magazine or from any other good 
reading matter may be distributed to class, and children 
be required to underline known words, copying the 
same on strips of paper, if time permit. 

Exercise 12. — Copying selections. 

Children may copy certain paragraphs from the Reader 
after words have been spelled, attention being given to 
capitals and punctuation as well as spelling. 

Exercise 13. — Sentences from Reader. 

The teacher may select ten or more hard words from 
the reading lesson. Have the children copy the sen- 
tences containing these words from the Reader, and 
later have them read the sentences from the paper in- 
stead of the book. This aids transition from print to 
script, and emphasizes the importance of using the 
exact words of the text. 

Exercise 14. — Selections for children's blank books. 

Children may copy poems in blank books. The 
poems may be those which have been learned from 
month to month, expressing the month's nature work 
or that of the season. 



46 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Exercise 15. — Difficult words. 

Selections may be copied, then hard words written 
in columns underneath, each child choosing his own 
words. 

Exercise 16. — Punctuation. 

Sentences from special page or pages of the Reader 
may be copied the first of the year. 

1. Those which tell something, being careful how 
they begin and end. (Capitals and periods.) 

2. Those which ask questions, being careful how 
they begin and end. (Capitals and interrogation points.) 

3. Sentences which contain names of persons. 

Exercise 17. — Material for spelling. 

Sentences on work of the season copied and used for 
spelling lesson. 

Exercise 18. — Mottoes. 

Maxims and mottoes copied by class. 
See pages 134-139- 

Exercise 19. — Pilgrim book. 

In November or December, as a development of the 
talks about Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day, a form 
of busy work which has delighted some little people is 
making " The Pilgrim Book." Material for the class: 
blank books, pictures, scissors, paste, sticks. The 
teacher should show, on charts or blackboard, just 
how she wishes each page of blank book to be arranged. 
The work may be divided into several lessons, leading 
up to the finished result. 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 47 

Such books may be made in connection with other 
subjects and seasons, — as, Thanksgiving, June, Occupa- 
tions, Animals, Flowers. 



Exercise 20. — Original sentences. 

Give each child a definite number of words on a 
card. Pupil may copy and put given words into 
sentences. 

Exercise 21. — Questions and answers. 

The teacher may write on board questions about the 
reading-lesson, the answers to which will form a short 
connected story. Children write the answers. Pupils 
are expected to pay attention to margin, punctuation, 
capitals, and spelling, and also to put title at the 
beginning. 

Exercise 22. — Words in sentences. 

Lists of words are written by teacher on blackboard 
or chart. Pupils make sentences containing words in 
the lists. A help to spelling and language in second 
half of year. 

Exercise 23. — Use of pictures. 

Children may write stories from large picture hung 
before the class, hints having been written on black- 
board ; use small pictures at desks in the same way. 

Descriptions of flowers, fruits, animals, or birds, writ- 
ten and studied; sometimes with topics on the board, 
other times without. 



48 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Exercise 24. — Mounted pictures and words. 

Make a collection of small pictures selected from 
magazines, school papers, old books, or any other 
source. Suitable boxes may be collected by the chil- 
dren. The pictures must be mounted, and a box for 
each child is a necessity. Into each box are put from 
ten to twenty mounted pictures, and five slips of card- 
board for each picture, each slip having the name of 
the picture on it. Every slip, picture, and box is 
numbered, the number of slip and picture correspond- 
ing to the number of box in which they belong. If 
either one is found out of its place, it may, in this 
way, easily be returned to its proper box. The boxes 
have names typical of the pictures within. One may 
be an " Indian box," another a " plaything box," an- 
other a " vegetable box," and so on. When the boxes 
are given to the class, each child arranges his pictures 
on his desk, and puts the five slips which tell the name 
of a picture under the picture to which they belong. 

Exercise 25. — Library. 

A school library of the simplest sort may be made 
available even to children in the primary schools, so 
that they may be accustomed to the independent use 
of books. The tendency of the school is to direct class 
work and ignore individual choice. This may be cor- 
rected by the use of a library. 

Collect books from every possible source : picture- 
books or story-books which the children may lend for 
the purpose, or which are contributed from the garret 
collections of the neighborhood ; old magazines ; partial 
sets of supplementary reading books ; old text-books. 



LANGUAGE, SPELLING, READING 49 

Place these upon a table or a shelf within reach of the 
children. If a table is used, let a group gather about 
it and use the books at pleasure during a prescribed 
period. Or, let the children who complete their work 
before the others, have this opportunity to read ; and 
lest the slower ones be forgotten, assign a special period 
when they may use the books instead of doing other 
work. Encourage the children to tell what they enjoy 
in a book, to describe the pictures which they have seen, 
or to relate the stories which they have read. In some 
cases, read to the children from story-books which they 
bring, so that they may acquire the notion that their 
lessons in reading are intended to develop the power 
to use books for themselves. 

By this means, even with a meagre provision for read- 
ing, the library may be made a very valuable part of the 
equipment of the school. 



VI. 

A SERIES OF EXERCISES IN PHONICS 
AND SPELLING 

PREPARED BY 

A. B. B. 

Grades II. and III. 

The following series of exercises suggest phases of word 
study which may profitably employ pupils in connection with 
phonics or spelling. Key words are provided from which 
the children, by prefixing initial letters, may make new words 
having the same final sound. The lists may be read after- 
ward to the class, and the new words used in sentences, 
spelled orally, or written from dictation. The exercises have 
been carefully prepared by one who has made a thoughtful 
study of phonics with her own classes. They will be found 
to contain many fundamental combinations which should be- 
come familiar to the children. 

In other exercises the addition of the silent <?, or of the 
various suffixes, enables the children to spell the common 
derivatives and to recognize the law which governs the spell- 
ing. The meaning of the derivative is taught at the same 
time, and the pupils are thus helped to consider the relations 
of words which are derived from the same root. This prac- 
tice will prove very helpful when the knowledge is applied 
in reading. — Ed. 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 51 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (A) 

GUIDE 
Key Words. Initial Letters. 

1. and 1. b, gr, h, 1, s, st. 

2. end 2. b, 1, t, s, sp, r, w, bl. 

CLASS EXERCISE 

"Form with letters or write in columns. 
Result : 



1. and 




hand 


band 




land 


grand 


stand 


sand 


2. end 




tend 


bend 




send 


lend 
rend 


blend 


spend 
wend 



SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES (B) 

GUIDE 
Key Words. Initial Letters. 

1. eat 1. b, h, s, tr, wh, n, m. 

2. each 2. b, p, r, t, pr. 

3. ear 3. n, t, r, f, h, d, dr, sh, sp, y. 

4. oil 4. b, c, t, s, sp. 

5. all 5. b, c, f, t, w, sm, h, st. 

6. ill 6. b, h, f, s, t, st, g, w, w, p, 

sp, dr, qu, gr, tr. 

7. ink 7. dr, br, r, ch, s, w, th, 1. 

Suggestions : — 

1. At the close of a busy work period, let the class 
volunteer to pronounce and spell each word in any list. 



52 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

2. During some future busy work period, have the 
lists copied from the board or chart into the blank 
books reserved for spelling. 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (C) 

GUIDE 



Key Words. 


Final Letters. 


1. thin 


1. k, g. 


2. sin 


2. k, g, ge. 


3. chin 


3. k. 


4. ban 


4. k, g, d. 


5. sun 


5. k, g. 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in columns. 
Result: l. thin, think, thing. 

2. sin, sink, sing, singe. 

3. chin, chink. 

4. ban, bank, bang, band. 

5. sun, sunk, sung. 

SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES (2>) 
GUIDE 



Key 


Words. 


Final e added. 


l. 


slop 


l. slope 


2. 


hop 


2. 


3. 


rod 


3. 


4. 


slid 


4. 


5. 


din 


5. 


6. 


twin 


6. 


7. 


trip 


7. 


8. 


snip 


8. 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 53 



Key 


Words. 


Final < 


2 added. 


9. 


fin 


9. 




10. 


us 


10. 




11. 


at 


11. 




12. 


bit 


12. 




13. 


tub 


13. 




14. 


cub 


14. 




15. 


cut 


15. 




16„ 


not 


16. 




17. 


tun 


17. 


• 


18. 


ton 


18. 




19. 


shad 


19. 




20. 


rob 


20. 




MODIFIED VOWELS 


(E) 






GUIDE 




1. 


cot 


1. 


coat 


2. 


rod 


2. 




3. 


am 


3. 


aim 


4. 


ran 


4. 




5. 


pan 


5. 




6. 


far 


6. 


fair 


7. 


star 


7. 




8. 


bar 


8. 


bear 


9. 


tar 


9. 




10. 


car 


10. 


care 


11. 


bar 


11. 




12. 


far 


12. 




13. 


slop 


13. 


sloop 


14. 


stop 


14. 




15. 


shot 


15. 




16. 


hot 


16. 




17. 


cot 


17. 





54 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



18. 


drop 


18. 




19. 


crop 


19. 


croup 


20. 


sop 


20. 




BOARD OR CHART 


WORK (F) 




GUIDE 






Key 


Words. 


Suffix. 


l. 


bake 


l. 


-r 


2. 


make 


2. 


-r 


3. 


talk 


3. 


-er 


4. 


walk 


4. 


-er 


5. 


buy 


5. 


-er 


6. 


dream 


6. 


-er 


7. 


work 


7. 


-er 


8. 


sleep 


8. 


-er 


9. 


creep 


9. 


-er 


10. 


preach 


10. 


-er 


11. 


sell 


11. 


-er 


12. 


steam 


12. 


-er 


13. 


wait 


13. 


-er 


14. 


read 


14. 


-er 


15. 


trade 


15. 


-r 


16. 


ride 


16. 


-r 



BUSY WORK EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns the 
action word, the name word. 

Suggestions : — 

i. At the close of a busy work period have each 
word pronounced, spelled, and used in sentence-building. 

2. Have these words copied from board or chart 
lists, during a future busy work period, into the blank 
books reserved for spelling. 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 55 

SVPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES (G) 

GUIDE 



Key 


Words. 


5 


uffix. 


l. 


run 


1. 


n-er 


2. 


gun 


2. 


n-er 


3. 


spin 


3. 


n-er 


4. 


win 


4. 


n-er 


5. 


sin 


5. 


n-er 


6. 


trim 


6. 


m-er 


7. 


hum 


7. 


m-er 


8. 


drum 


8. 


m-er 


9. 


rob 


9. 


b-er 


10. 


clip 


10. 


p-er 


11. 


ship 


11. 


p-er 


12. 


chop 


12. 


p-er 


13. 


hop 


13. 


p-er 


14. 


stop 


14. 


p-er 


15. 


cut 


15. 


t-er 


16. 


shut 


16. 


t-er 


17. 


fit 


17. 


t-er 


18. 


wrap 


18. 


p-er 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns a list 
of action words, a list of name words. Call attention to 
the "doubling" of the final consonant before er can be 
added. 

Suggestions : — 

1. Have each word in a list pronounced, spelled, and 
used for sentence-building. 

2. Have the lists copied, during a future busy work 
exercise, into the blank books reserved for spelling. 



56 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 


BOARD OR 


CHART WORK (H) 






GUIDE 




Key 


Words. 


Suffix. 


l. 


run 


1. 


n-ing 


2. 


sun 


2. 


n-ing 


3. 


gun 


3. 


n-ing 


4. 


pin 


4. 


n-ing 


5. 


sin 


5. 


n-ing 


6. 


win 


6. 


n-ing 


7. 


trim 


7. 


m-ing 


8. 


hum 


8. 


m-ing 


9. 


drum 


9. 


m-ing 


10. 


slam 


10. 


m-ing 


11. 


stop 


11. 


p-ing 


12. 


chop 


12. 


p-ing 


13. 


hop 


13. 


p-ing 


14. 


slip 


14. 


p-ing 


15. 


whip 


15. 


p-ing 


16. 


skip 


16. 


p-ing 


17. 


ship 


17. 


p-ing 


18. 


trip 


18. 


p-ing 


19. 


drip 


19. 


p-ing 


20. 


get 


20. 


t-ing 


21. 


fret 


21. 


t-ing 


22. 


pat 


22. 


t-ing 


23. 


cut 


23. 


t-ing 


24. 


sit 


24. 


t-ing 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns the two 
forms of the action word. Call attention to the " doub- 
ling " of the final consonant before ing can be added. 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 57 

Suggestions : — 

1. Have the words in each list pronounced, spelled, 
and used in sentence-building. 

2. Have each list copied from the board or chart 
into the blank books reserved for spelling. 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (I) 

GUIDE 



Key 


Words. 


. 


Suffix. 


l. 


trim 


1. 


m-ed 


2. 


hum 


2. 


m-ed 


3. 


slam 


3. 


m-ed 


4. 


drum 


4. 


m-ed 


5. 


drag 


5. 


g-ed 


6. 


rig 


6. 


g-ed 


7. 


bag 


7. 


g-ed 


8. 


P e g 


8. 


g-ed 




Change 


of Pronunciation 


9. 


slip 


9. 


p-ed 


10. 


chip 


10. 


p-ed 


11. 


trip 


11. 


p-ed 


12. 


stop 


12. 


p-ed 


13. 


chop 


13. 


p-ed 


14. 


drip 


14. 


p-ed 


15. 


whip 


15. 


p-ed 


16. 


clip 


16. 


p-ed 




Change of Pronunciation 


17. 


fret 


17. 


t-ed 


18. 


pet 


18. 


t-ed 


19. 


trot 


19. 


t-ed 


20. 


pat 


20. 


t-ed 



58 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns the 
present and the past form of the action word, 
ed-t ed-ed 

Suggestions : — 

1. Have each word in a list pronounced, spelled, and 
used in sentence-building. 

2. Have each list copied from the board or chart into 
the blank books reserved for spelling. 

3. Call attention to the " doubling " of the final con- 
sonant before ed can be added. 



BOARD OR 


CHART WORK (J) 






GUIDE 




Key 


Words. 




Suffix. 


l. 


come 


1. 


com-ing 


2. 


have 


2. 


hav-ing 


3. 


save 


3. 


sav-ing 


4. 


live 


4. 


-ing 


5. 


give 


5. 


-ing 


6. 


smile 


6. 


-ing 


7. 


twine 


7. 


-ing 


8. 


shine 


8. 


-ing 


9. 


dine 


9. 


dining 


10. 


dive 


10. 


-ing 


11. 


drive 


11. 


-ing 


12. 


chase 


12. 


-ing 


13. 


trace 


13. 


-ing 


14. 


lace 


14. 


-ing 


15. 


slide 


15. 


-ing 


16. 


ride 


16. 


-ing 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 



59 



Key Words. 




Suffix. 


17. hide 


17. 


-ing 


18. skate 


18. 


-ing 


19. make 


19. 


-ing 


20. wake 


20. 


-ing 


21. shake 


21. 


-ing 


22. bake 


22. 


-ing 


23. quake 


23. 


-ing 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns the 
action words and their present participles, by dropping 
the final e of the " stem " and adding ing. 

Suggestions : — 

1. Use as an oral spelling lesson. 

2. Write the lists upon the board and require the 
class to copy them into the blank books. 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (K) 

GUIDE 



Key Words. 




Suffix. 


l. storm 


1. 


storm-y 


2. rain 


2. 


rain-y 


3. snow 


3. 


-y 


4. might 


4. 


-y 


5. frost 


5. 


-y 


6. wind 


6. 


-y 


7. moss 


7. 


-y 


8. gloss 


8. 


-y 


9. dress 


9. 


-y 


10. flesh 


10. 


-y 


11.. thorn 


11. 


-y 



6o PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



Key 


Words. 


Suffix. 


12. 


dust 


12. -y 


13. 


gust 


13. -y 


14. 


slush 


14. -y 


15. 


trust 


15. -y 


16. 


grain 


16. -y 


17. 


grass 


17. -y 


18. 


thirst 


18. -y 


19. 


health 


19. -y 


20. 


wealth 


20. -y 


21. 


hair 


21. -y 




Change of Spelling 



22. juice 22. -y 

Omit the final e before adding y to the " stem." 

CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns the 
name word and the descriptive word, by adding y to the 
stem. 

Suggestions : — 

1. Use the list for an oral spelling lesson and for 
language. 

2. Write the lists upon the board for the class to 
copy into the blank books. 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (i) 

GUIDE 
Key Words. Suffix. 

1. pretty 1. pretti-ly 

2. merry 2. merri-ly 

3. happy 3. -ly 



PHONICS 


AND SPELLING 


Key Words. 


Suffix. 


4. cheery 


4. -ly 


5. dreary 


5. -ly 


6. weary 


6. -ly 


7. stormy 


7. -ly 


8. mighty 


8. -ly 


9. worthy 


9. -ly 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns de- 
scriptive words and words expressing manner. 

Suggestions : — 

1. Use for an oral spelling and language lesson. 

2. Write the lists upon the board for the class to 
copy into the blank books. 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (If) 

GUIDE 
Key Words. Suffix. 

1. pony 

2. penny 

3. daisy 

4. pansy 

5. baby 

6. lady 

7. berry 

8. cherry 

9. ferry 

10. pussy 

11. fairy 



1. 


pom-es 


2. 


penni-es 


3. 


-es 


4. 


-es 


5. 


-es 


6. 


-es 


7. 


-es 


8. 


-es 


9. 


-es 


10. 


-es 


11. 


-es 



62 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns the 
form for one and more than one. 

Suggestions : — 

1. Use each list for a lesson in oral spelling and 
language. 

2. Write the lists upon the board for the class to 
copy into the blank books. 



BOARD OR CHART WORK (N) 



GUIDE 



Key Words. 

1. rest 

2. cheer 

3. help 

4. truth 

5. mirth 

6. worth 

7. hair 

8. friend 
mother 
father 
doubt 

12. rider 

13. number 
home 
house 
seed 
thought 
joy 



9 
10 
11 



14 
15 
16 
17 
18 



1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 



Suffix. 
rest-less 
cheer-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
-less 
4ess 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 63 

CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns name 
words and the descriptive words formed by adding less 
(in the sense of without) to the stem. 

Suggestions : — 

1. Use the lists for an oral spelling and language 
lesson. 

2. Write the lists upon the board for the class to 
copy into the blank books. 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (©) 

GUIDE 



Key Words. 




Suffix. 


1. truth 


1. 


truth-ful 


2. help 


2. 


help-ful 


3. cheer 


3. 


-ful 


4. mirth 


4. 


-ful 


5. rest 


5. 


-ful 


6. joy 


6. 


-ful 


7. fruit 


7. 


-ful 


8. waste 


8. 


-ful 


9. boat 


9. 


-ful 



Change of Spelling 
Key Words. Suffix. 

10. beauty 10. beauti-ful 

11. duty 11. -ful 

12. mercy 12. -ful 

CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns name 
words and descriptive words formed by adding ful (in 
the sense of with ox full of) to the stem. 



6 4 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



Suggestions : — 

1. Use the lists for oral spelling and language. 

2. Write the lists upon the board for the class to 
copy into the blank books. 

BOARD OR CHART WORK (J>) 
GUIDE 



Key Words. 

1. wood 

2. gold 

3. oak 

4. leather 

5. earth 

6. feather 

7. silver 

8. leather 

9. brass 
10. earth 



Suffix. 

1. wood-en 

2. gold-en 

3. -en 

4. -n 

5. -en 

6. feather-y 

7. -y 

8. -y 

9. -y 
10. -y 



CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns name 
words and the descriptive words derived from them by 
adding en, n } or y to the stem. 
Suggestions : — 

1. Use the lists for oral spelling and language. 

2. Write the lists upon the board for the class to 
copy into the blank books. 



BOARD 


OR 


CHART WORK (Q) 

GUIDE 


Key Words. 




I. 

Suffix. 


1. pink 




1. pink-ish 


2. yellow 




2. yellow-ish 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 65 



Key Words. 






Suffix. 


3. green 




3. 


-ish 


4. brown 




4. 


-ish 


Change 


of Spelling 




5. red. 




5. 


red-dish 


" Double " the d before 


adding ish 


• 


GUIDE 








II. 






Key Words. 






Suffix. 


1. dark 




1. 


dark-ness 


2. white 




2. 


-ness 


3. red 




3. 


-ness 


4. dim 




4. 


-ness 


5. bright 




5. 


-ness 


6. polite 




6. 


-ness 


7. kind 




7. 


-ness 


8. tender 




8. 


-ness 



Change of Spelling 
9. happy 9. -iness 

Change y to i before adding ness. 

CLASS EXERCISE 

Form with letters or write in separate columns de- 
scriptive words and their forms to denote diminished 
quality, by adding ish to the stem ; form or write 
descriptive words and the name words derived from 
them, by adding ness to the stem. 

Suggestions : — 

1. Use the lists for oral spelling and language. 

2. Write the lists upon the board for the class to 
copy into the blank books. 

5 



66 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



miscellaneous exercises in spelling and 
word study. 

Exercise i. 

Make a list of the common homonyms, as, to, two ; 
by, buy. Direct the children to use them correctly in 
sentences. 

Exercise 2. 

Write upon the blackboard different forms of the 
same root word to be used in sentences, as, help, help- 
ful, helping, helpless, helped, helper, helpfully. 

Exercise 3. 

Direct children to copy from reading-books words 
having certain endings, as, ing, er, est ; words having 
certain prefixes or suffixes, as, un f fuL 

Copy all abbreviations found. 

Exercise 4. 

Write on the blackboard a list of verbs whose past 
and whose present participle are formed regularly, and 
require class to copy and complete list like the model, 
as, — 

add, added, adding. 

return, 

ask, 

Note : The terms which are used in the directions to the 
teacher are not intended for the pupil. Children of these 
grades will not of course understand grammatical terms. 
They can, however, discover groups of words having kindred 
meaning and derived from the same root. 



PHONICS AND SPELLING 67 

Exercise 5. 

Work similar to the above may be done with adjec- 
tives, the class writing all forms, as, — 

long, longer, longest. 

full, 

tall, 

Exercise 6. 

Later, similar work may be done with verbs having 
final e, as, — 

love, loved, loving. 

care, 

move, 

Also with nouns forming plurals regularly and irreg- 
ularly, as, — 

sister, sisters, 

daisy, daisies, 

donkey, donkeys. 

With words doubling final consonant, as, — 
plan, planned, planning, 

hot, hotter, hottest. 

Exercise 7. 

Distribute cards with such words as felt, slip, thus, 
rife, life ; have the words formed with the cut letters ; 
have the letters in each word transposed to form a new 
word ; namely, left, lips, shut, fire, file. 

Exercise 8. 

Select some word, as pasture ; have words formed 
from it by selecting and transposing the letters in it. 



68 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Exercise 9. 

Select and copy from the reading-books, words 
(a) beginning with a certain letter, 
{b) ending with a certain letter, 

(c) containing a specific number of letters, 

(d) containing a specific number of syllables, 

(e) denoting the names of fruits, 

(/) denoting the names of vegetables, 

(g) denoting the names of animals, 

{h) denoting the names of people, 

(J) denoting the names of places, 

(J) denoting facts about the weather, including the 

phenomena of nature, 
(k) denoting number, quantity, and size. 



VII. 
MISS FULLERS PHONIC DRILL CHART 

The accompanying drill chart, for practice in phonics, was 
prepared by Miss Sarah Fuller, Principal of the Horace Mann 
School for the Deaf. It is published by D. C. Heath & Co., 
Boston, whose courtesy in permitting its use is gratefully 
acknowledged. For the directions for using the chart, we 
are indebted to Miss Fuller. 

DRILL CHART 



Final Consonants. — m — p — th 



m 


-P 


-V 


-t 


■th 
n 


-f 



-sh 
-ch 



— X 


-1 


-b 


-g(j) 


-d 


-ng 


-g 


ti 



Initial Consonants, m vtknptk, cfth 

s, c sh ch b d g 1 j, g z, x 

s, z (zh) q r w wh y h 



Order of Vowels* 



u 


a 


I e I 


a 


e 


a 6 


ii 


6 


a 


6 XL 


ii 


a 


bw 


01 



To the Teacher. —The pupil will read each vowel element in combination with each 
final consonant, and will also read each initial consonant with each vowel and final conso- 
nant ; thus, u will be read ion, uv, utk, un, up, etc, and, also, mum, muv, muth, mun, 
mup, etc. , vum, vuv, victh, vun, vup, etc. 



7° 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



u, cup 


j o, son 
{ ou, young 


e, bell 


f ea, bread 
{ ai, said 


o, dog 


|a, 


wasp 


a, father | auaunt 


a, fan 




u, tube 


lew 


few 


i, pipe 


( ie, pie 

1y> cry 


o, do 


( oo, boot 
( u, rude 


u, fur 


& 


girl 
her 


e, me 


( ea, eat 
{ ee, teeth 


u, put 


< oo, foot 


a, fare 


\ ai, 
1ea, 


chair 
pear 


i, pin 


fy, baby 
( ai, curtain 


o, home 


( oa, soap 
{ ow, snow 


ow, cow •] ou, 


mouth 


a, slate 


( ai, nail 
1 ay, day 


a, ball 


( aw, saw 
(or, fork 


oi, boil 


{oy, 


boy 



m 
arm mat 
— m m— 


k c 
fork key arc cow 
— k k — — c c — 


b 
tub boy 
-b b— 


s(zh) 
measure j 


z (zh) 
glazier 
— z — 


V 

stove vase 

V v — 


f 
cuff fan 
— f f— 


d 
bird doll 
— d d— 


q 

quill 
q 


wh 

whip 

wh— 


with the 

— &n. on — 


th 
mouth thumb 
th th 


dog gun 


r 

rat 

r— 


y 

yacht 

y — 


n 
fan nut 
— n n— 


s c 
mouse sun face cent 
s s — — c c — 


1 

ball leg 
— 1 1— 


w 

wasp 

w— 


h 

hat 

h- 


P 
cup pin 

-P P- 


sh 
fish shell 
-sh sh — 


j g 
jug cage gill 

j s g— 


X 

box 

— X 


t 
hat top 
— t t— 


ch 
watch chain 
ch ch — 


z s 
fez zinc nose 
— z z — — s 


ng 
ring 
-ng 





PHONIC CHART 71 

Directions 

Distribute the charts, at the same time giving to each 
child two or three vowels written upon little squares 
of card-board. All the more common spellings of a 
vowel-sound should be written under the vowel as it 
appears on the drill-chart, as, — 

a 
ai 
ay 
a-e 

It will add to the interest of the lesson if care is taken 
that no two children have the same vowels to work 
with ; at least those seated near each other should have 
different ones. 

Either mention or write upon the blackboard an 
initial consonant. Require each child to pronounce 
silently the syllables which result from combining the 
given consonant with one of the vowels and every final. 
(For example, if the initial is m and the vowel 0, the 
resulting combinations would be moon, move, month, 
moor, etc.) As he comes to a combination which is a 
vowel contained in his ow'n speaking vocabulary, let him 
write it down, spelling it as best he can. 

Enough vowels should be supplied to insure employ- 
ment throughout the period, the number differing with 
the working capacity of the individual child. 

At the end of the period the teacher should call 
for each child's list and write every common word upon 
the blackboard, of course spelling it correctly ; by this 
means each gets the benefit of the labor of all. 

Many consonant combinations such as sp, st, sk, sm, 
si, bl, gr, pr, str, scr, etc., may be used as initials or 
finals, or both. 



72 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

THE VOWEL, AND CONSONANT CHARTS 

Direct the children to write columns of words contain- 
ing (a) the same initials, or (£) the same finals, or (V) 
the same vowel sounds as the words in any selected 
group. It often happens that a combination which 
is not by itself an English word is nevertheless a 
syllable of some well-known word. Pupils should be 
encouraged to notice such syllables and to write the 
words of which they are a part. 

Call for the lists at the end of the period, but only 
uncommon or unfamiliar words need be written upon 
the board. The exercise should be progressive ; com- 
mon words ought gradually to be ruled out, and the 
children taught to spend much thought in adding to 
their lists words which they have heard other people 
use. 

Note : The fear which some teachers feel that such exercises 
will react unfavorably upon the spelling is not realized in 
practice. 

S. F. 



NUMBER 



VIII. 

NUMBER WORK FOR FIRST-GRADE PUPILS 

I. 

MEASURING AND CUTTING 

1. Make measures eight or ten inches long and one 
inch wide, from cardboard. Mark off only inch lengths. 
Give each child a measure and slips of paper cut from 
any paper furnished for school use. The children may 
cut one-inch lengths, two-inch lengths, three-inch 
lengths, etc., as many of each as the teacher may 
indicate. Grade I. 

2. Early in the year the children cut writing paper 
on the lines. 

Later, cut in the same way and then cut each strip 
into halves. When they can do this readily, ask them 
to cut one whole strip, then cut the next strip into 
halves and place under the whole strip, the next into 
fourths, the next into eighths. Try the same kind of 
cutting with squares, circles, triangles, and oblongs. 

Grades I. and II. 

3. Give each child a four-inch square, also a measure, 
and ask him to mark and cut into one-inch squares. 

Grade I. 

4. During May and June let the first class mark 
squares of tagstock into inch squares. Then in each 
one of these squares they draw a number picture. Let 
them cut these inch squares, and let these number 



76 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

pictures be sorted by the children who enter the next 
school year. Grade I. 

5. A box of assorted sticks (eighteen cents a box) 
are useful in teaching measurements. Make gardens a 
given number of inches square, and place sticks of dif- 
ferent lengths inside to represent the height of the 
plants in that garden. 

All these exercises under measuring and cutting are 
very valuable and can be used throughout the year. 

Cutting Exercise to increase Perceptions of Form 
and Size 

(This exercise may be taken the second month of first 
primary year and continued several months, by children 
who have received full kindergarten training.) 

Cut (by measure) a square of one inch side, then 
a two-inch square, a three-inch square, etc. Cut the 
same without measure. Vary by cutting oblongs, one 
inch by two inches, one inch by three inches, two inches 
by three inches, etc. Grades I. and II. 

Cut forms into halves, thirds, fourths, etc. Grade I. 

Cut a rectangle. Cut another twice as large, another 
three times as large as the first, etc. 

Grades I. and II. 

Cut a rectangle. Cut another one-half, one-third, or 
one-fourth as large. Use pins to fasten a set together. 

Grades I. and II. 

Drawing Exercise to teach Careful Use of Measure, and 
Perception of Form and Size 

(This exercise may be taken the second month of first 
primary school year, and continued several months, 
by children who have received full kindergarten training.) 



NUMBER WORK, FIRST GRADE 77 

Draw on paper one-inch, two-inch, and three-inch 
squares, using measure. Continue to draw larger and 
larger squares. Draw the same without measure. 
Draw oblongs of any given dimensions, first with and 
then without the measure. 

Draw lines one inch long, two inches long, first with, 
then without measure. Grade I. 

Lines one-half inch long, one and one-half inches 
long, etc., in the same manner. Grades I. and II. 

Draw forms and divide them, by lines, into halves, 
thirds, fourths, etc. Grades I. and II. 

Draw a plant having four flowers. Draw another 
having twice as many. Draw another having three 
times as many. Draw one having one-half as many. 
Use other representations, as, a house having a certain 
number of windows; another having twice as many, 
etc. Grades I. and II. 

II. 

exercises with pegs 
Exercise i. 
Rows laid in order of numbers. 
I 

II 
III 

I I I I etc. Grade I. 

Exercise 2. 
Rows laid in twos. 

II II II II II 

II II II M M Grade I. 



I PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Exercise 3. 
Rows laid in threes, etc. 

Ml IN Ml Ml Gradel. 

Exercise 4. 
Tell the children to build woodpiles, laying three logs 



and two logs ; or four logs and three logs, as 



Or tell them to make a four or five barred gate with 



a cross-bar, as / using any number, according 



to the ability of the child. Grade I. 

Exercises tvith Pegs to increase Perceptions of Relative 
Magnitudes 

(These exercises may be used in first primary year. 
They may be used in the second month in school by 
those children who have had full kindergarten training; 
in the latter part of the year by those children who 
have not received such training.) 

Lay two pegs to form a vertical (or horizontal) line. 
Close to the right (or left) of this line, lay a line of 
pegs twice as long. At some distance from these two 
lines, lay a vertical (or horizontal) line of three pegs. 
Close to the right (or left) of this line, lay a line twice 
as long. Lay a line of three pegs, then a line twice 
as long, etc. The children will be able to do this 
without reference to the number of pegs required, and 
will, incidentally, learn a good deal of number. 

Vary this exercise by laying lines one-half as long as 
other lines; three times as long; and in the latter part 
of the year, one-third or one-fourth as long. Grade I. 



NUMBER WORK, FIRST GRADE 79 

Exercise with Pegs to increase Perceptions of Form 
and Relative Size 

(This exercise may be used the first month of the first 
school year by children who have received kindergarten 
training, — three or four months later by children who 
have not had such training.) 

Lay, with pegs, a small rectangle. At the right or 

left side, lay a rectangle of a slightly larger size. Next 

the same form a little larger, and so on. Grade I. 

Lay oblongs and triangles in the same way. 

Grade I. 

Lay vertical, horizontal and oblique lines, dividing 
them (by single pegs) into halves, thirds, fourths, etc. 

Grade I. 

Lay squares and oblongs. Divide them, by lines of 
pegs, into halves, thirds, fourths, etc. Grades I. and II. 

Work with Pegs and Figures 

Material : Printed figures cut from calendars or bought 
in sheets, envelopes. Give each child pegs and 
envelopes containing figures. 

Exercise i. 

Place figures on desks in rows. Place corresponding 
number of pegs below each figure. Grade I. 

Exercise 2. 
Teach the children how to lay the pegs to represent 
the table of twos : — 

II 

II II 

II II I etc., up to twelve twos. Grade I. 



80 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Exercise 3. 

When the children can lay the pegs well, distribute 
envelopes containing figures, and let them find and place 
the figures corresponding to the groups, thus : — 

II 2 

II II 4 

II II II 6, etc. Grade I. 

Teach threes and fours in the same way. 

Note: Exercise I. is useful during the third and fourth 
months. II. and III. during the last three months. 

Pegs — Signs and Figures 

Purpose : Development of multiplication and division. 

INTERPRETING SIGNS 
The written expression is placed upon the board, as, 
4x2, 2x3, 3X3, and so forth. The children take 
their pegs and arrange them upon their desks; two 
groups with four in a group in the first row, three 
groups with two in a group in the next row, and three 
groups with three in a group in the next row. 

Grades I. and II. 
DIVISION 

In the division, if the equations are 7 -f- 3, 8 -f- 4, the 
children place seven pegs in the first row and divide 
them into groups with three pegs in each group and 
one peg remaining ; then place eight pegs in the second 
row and divide them into groups with four pegs in each 
group. Grade I. 

Note : Use these exercises during the last two months of the 
first year. 



NUMBER WORK, FIRST GRADE 81 

III. 
STRINGING BEADS 

Material required : {a) Twenty-four spool boxes ; 

(£) Twelve gray lacings; (c) Red and white glass 

beads. 

These beads can be bought at toy stores at five cents 
a bunch. Cut ^lacings in halves ; tie knots at the end 
of each string. Put fifty red and fifty white beads in 
each box and one lacing, (Instead of the lacing, patent 
shoe button needle, with strong cord attached, may be 
used.) 

Instruct children to string a certain number of red 
and white beads alternately. Grade I. 

This exercise aids in number and increases ability to 
follow directions. 

Use during the first two months. 

IV. 

STRINGING TABLETS 

Material required : (a) Ten gray lacings. Cut these 
in halves, making twenty strings. Tie knots at 
end of each string; (b) Colored tablets of different 
colors and different shapes. These can be bought or 
made from Bristol board ; (<:) Twenty boxes. 

V. 

WORK WITH LENTILS AND STICKS 

Material: Sticks and lentils. Lentils can be bought 
at any grocer's. 

Manner of using: Make number pictures 
with lentils, and enclose each picture with 
sticks (wooden toothpicks may be used). 



82 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



Make as many number pictures of any number as 
there are combinations of two numbers to make the 
number. Thus : — Grade I. 



•••• 
•••• 




•••• 
• ••• 




•••• 
•••• 




• ••• 



Then with extra sticks lay off the lentils to show com- 
binations of any two numbers to make the number 
under consideration. Thus : — 



/ 



• ••• 







• 
• 


• •• 

• • • 












• • 

• • 


• • 

• • 







Proceed in the same manner with all the lentil pictures. 
Toothpicks may be used also in making squares, tri- 
angles, etc. Place inside groups of twos, fours, sixes, 
etc. Divide these into halves by placing a stick ver- 
tically, horizontally, or obliquely among them. Grade I. 



VI. 

SPLIT PEAS AND STICKS 

HOW THE FAMILY MOVES. 

Material required : {a) Oblong blocks (obtained 
from city) ; (b) Paper and pencils (obtained from 
city); (c) Split peas, ten cents a quart; (<^) Tooth- 
picks and half toothpicks. 

1. Make oblongs with sticks. 

2. Make given number pictures with split peas For 
example, picture ten at top of desk; the empty 



NUMBER WORK, FIRST GRADE 



83 



• • • • 

• • •!• • 

• • • • • 



oblongs or houses, below; the family of ten moves 
into the empty double house. Thus : 



Empty double house. 

Five in each room. 

Six in one room and four in the other 
room. 



Represent all possible combinations. 
The same can be represented by drawing round or 
oblong tablets and making rings instead of using peas. 
Use this exercise during the first half of the year. 

Grade I. 

VII. 

CARDS AND SPLIT PEAS 

Use oblong cards of a convenient size. The teacher 
makes on the board oblongs with pictures of the num- 
ber in the upper half. Children are to lay the peas 
on their cards in the same way and fill in the lower 
half with the number of peas necessary to make the 
number required. Grade I. 

Note: This exercise is useful during the third and fourth 
months. Later in the year require the children to write 
two addition "stories" and two subtraction "stories" 
about the number represented in each card. 



84 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

VIII. 

ANOTHER WAY OF OBTAINING FIGURES 

Number cards containing figures, signs of addition, 
subtraction, multiplication, and division, also the signs 
of dollars and cents, may be procured at the printer's. 

After developing the different combinations in any 
number, give each child a box containing these figures 
and signs, and let them make the combinations on their 
desks. * Grades I. and II. 

IX. 

CARDS USED AS A COPY 

l. A set of cards with dots arranged domino-fashion 
may be painted in water-color. Grade I. 

The cards should be of dimensions 
large enough to be seen across the room ; 
the dot the size of a silver quarter. The 






children may copy the dots and oblongs, with the cor- 
responding equation underneath. 

3+4 = 7 
4+3 = 7 

Twenty-five cards will give the combinations up to 
ten. These cards being always at hand, no time is 
wasted in putting work upon the blackboard and much 
space is saved. 

2. Letters or figures may be painted on large cards 
and outlined by the children with pegs or split peas. 
These cards should be ten by twelve inches. Grade I. 

Use this exercise when teaching the forms of the 
figures. 



NUMBER WORK, FIRST GRADE 



85 



3. Blank Cards. Cut into strips and use in the fol- 
lowing ways : — 

(a) Figures in order from 1-5, for children to copy. 

(b) Same with figures from 1-10. 

(c) Same with figures 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. 

(d) Same with figures I, 3, 5, 7, 9. 

(e) Write questions in addition and subtraction with- 

out answers. 
(/) Multiplication and division in the same way. 

Grade I. 

Use a, b, c, d, during the first half of the year; e, f, 
during the last of the year. 

4. Cards prepared for Class Work. Write all the com- 
binations from 1-10 in columns on large-sized card- 
board with brush and ink. 

Pupils copy columns and find answers. Grade I. 

X. 

WORK WITH TABLETS 

Material : Oblong tablets, one inch by two inches, cut 
from leather board or tagstock. 

EXERCISE i. Each child is provided with pencil, 
paper, and tablet. Teacher draws on the blackboard 
four large representations of the tablets with pictures in 
them, thus: — 



• • • 

• • • 

• • • 



86 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



Let some child read the pictures as the teacher 
points to them, thus : I + 2, 2 + 3, etc. No figures 
are to be written. Then for busy work the children 
mark round their tablets and copy the pictures, mak- 
ing as many rows as possible, without crowding. All 
the number pictures taught in the first grade can be 
made in this way. Grade I. 

EXERCISE 2. After figures are taught, arrange as 
follows : 



•••• 


• 




• • • 

• 


• 




• • • 


• 
• 




• • 
• 


• • 


•••• 






• • • 


• 




• • • 


• 




• • 


• • 


8+1=9 




7+2 = 9 




6+3 = 9 




5 + 4 = 9 


1 + 8 = 9 2 + 7 = 9 3 + 6 = 9 4+5=9 


9 _i=8 9-2 = 7 9-6 = 3 9-5=4 


9- 


3= 1 




9- 


7 = 2 




9-3 


= 6 




9- 


4=5 



TRANSITION FROM NUMBER PICTURES TO 
FIGURES 

Calendars of large figures are mounted upon tagstock 

and cut into pieces so that each piece contains one figure. 

Upon the back of each slip is placed the number picture 

corresponding to the figure upon the other side. The 

children arrange the number pictures, following an order 

upon the blackboard, and match the number pictures 

with the figures ; or they place the figures in a given 

order and match these with the number pictures. 

Grade I. 

DOMINOES MADE FROM TAGSTOCK 

Represent a number on one half, leaving the other 

half blank to be filled with corresponding figure. 

Grade I. 



NUMBER WORK, FIRST GRADE 87 

ENVELOPES, FIGURES, AND SIGNS 

Make a set of envelopes with fifteen examples on the 
outside. Inside, place the figures and signs necessary 
to make the questions and answers. The children then 
find the first figure of the first equation on the envelope, 
then the sign ; then the next figure, then the sign and 
figure, which gives the answer. These are placed on the 
desk. Grades I. and II. 

WORK WITH FIGURES 

Material: Figures may be obtained by pasting old 
calendars on cardboard, then cutting the figures apart ; 
or they maybe made on cardboard with a rubber pen. 

Manner of using: Give each child a handful of figures 
from one to ten. 

1. Figures sorted and laid in rows ; 2's, 3's, 4's, etc. 
This helps to fix the names of figures. 

2. Figures laid in order of numbers, 1-10. This 
assists in counting. 

Both 1 and 2 are useful the first of the year, or when- 
ever it is desirable that the pupils should recognize 
figures. 



IX. 
PROBLEMS IN NUMBER FOR GRADES II. AND III. 

Children of second and third grades may be very much 
helped by exercises which teach them how to illustrate the 
conditions of the problems which are presented to them in 
number. It often happens that children fail in arithmetic, 
not because they cannot add, subtract, multiply, or divide, 
but because they cannot picture the conditions which are 
stated in the problem. Their imagination is deficient. It 
should be trained through thoughtful exercises. If a child 
makes a picture to represent the problem as it appears to 
him, the teacher is enabled to judge whether his mental 
picture of the conditions is clear or vague. 

For example, recall the typical problem : " James and 
John started from the same tree and walked in opposite 
directions. One walked 12 feet and the other 8 feet. How 
far apart were they? " The child may fail to solve this prob- 
lem correctly because he does not know that 12 and 8 are 20, 
but the failure of the majority is due to the fact that the word 
" opposite " is not clearly understood by them. If, however, 
the pupil draws a picture of a tree and of James 1 2 feet away 
on one side and John 8 feet away on the other, he can hardly 
fail to get the correct result. It matters very little whether 
the picture or the diagram is used. The picture is more 
pleasing to the young child. The diagram should take the 
place of the picture in the third and fourth grades. Such 
practice will prove very helpful in stating conditions in all 
problems in later school life. 



NUMBER, GRADES II. AND III. 89 

The following exercises are suggested for teachers who 
must prepare occupation for many classes and who may, there- 
fore, desire ready-made exercises for occasional use. Ed. 

1. A mat is four feet long and two feet wide. 
How many feet of braid shall I buy to bind the 
mat? 

2. How much fringe shall I buy for the ends of a 
mat six feet long and two feet wide? 

3. John has two bamboo -fishing-poles. One is six 
feet long, the other is twice as long. How many feet 
of bamboo in the two poles? 

4. Mary made an apple-pie. She gave one-half of 
it to Annie and a third to Tom. How much was left 
for herself? 

5. Kate has three times five cents. Ned has two 
times seven cents. Which has the more money? How 
much more? Show it. 

6. I have a garden about four feet long and six feet 
wide. How many geraniums can I plant in the bed if 
I put them one foot apart? 

7. A flag-pole stands between the house and the 
barn. The pole is twenty feet from the house and sixty 
feet from the barn. How far is it from the house to 
the barn? 

8. May's lily has two blossoms. Ruth's has three 
times as many as May's. Draw both lilies. 

9. A room is ten feet long and nine feet wide. How 
much picture moulding must be bought for it? 

10. Henry's room has three windows. Each window 
is two yards high. His mother is making muslin cur- 
tains for the windows. How many yards of muslin must 
she use? 



9 o PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

11. There are six rows of desks in a school-room and 
eight desks in a row. How many desks are there in 
the school-room? 

12. I have three window-boxes with five geraniums 
in each box. How many geraniums have I? 

13. John's book-case has three shelves. He has ten 
books on each shelf. How many books has he? 

14. My garden is twenty feet long and twenty-four 
feet wide. How many feet of wire fencing must I 
buy? 

15. Kate has one-half of twelve apples. May has 
one-third of fifteen apples. Show which has the greater 
number. 

16. A mug holds half as much as a bowl. The bowl 
holds half as much as a pitcher. The pitcher holds 
half as much as a jug. The jug holds eight quarts. 
How much does the mug hold? 

17. Henry found 7 eggs in one nest, 6 eggs in another, 
and 5 in another. How many eggs did he find? 

18. George picked 25 peaches from a tree and gave 
16 of them to a little sick boy. How many did he 
have left? 

19. Mary found 8 buttercups and 9 daisies on her 
way to school. How many flowers did she find? 

20. A long ladder has 13 steps, and a short one has 
7 ; how many more steps has the long ladder than the 
short one? 

21. In a certain school, 6 pupils sit in the first row, 
5 in the second row, and 7 in the third ; how many are 
there in the three rows? 

22. How many parts has a clover leaf? How many 
parts have 7 clover leaves? 



NUMBER, GRADES II. AND III. 91 

23. In a street there were 12 doves picking up corn, 
but a dog frightened away 8 of them. How many were 
left? 

24. Kate cut an orange into 5 equal parts, and then 
gave away 2 of the parts. How much of the orange 
did she give away? 

25. Divide an apple so that 8 boys may each have a 
piece of equal size. 

26. Ned has 6 quarts of strawberries. How many 
pint baskets can he fill? 

27. Joseph had 34 marbles, but lost half a dozen. 
How many has he left? 

28. A schoolroom contains 35 desks; there are 7 
rows. How many desks are there in each row? 

29. A boy found 21 eggs in the barn. He put them 
in his hat to carry into the house, but fell and broke 
some. When he reached the house, he found a dozen 
eggs in his hat. How many did he break? 

30. If two men start from the same place and travel 
in the same direction, but one travels 7 miles an hour 
and the other 9 miles an hour, how far apart will they 
be at the end of two hours? 

31. A boy, having 25 cents, bought 1 quart of cherries 
for 10 cents, one orange for 5 cents, and some candy 
for 8 cents. How many cents had he left? 

32. I saw 4 sleds going down hill, and on each sled 
was one girl and two boys. How many children did I 
see going down hill? 

33. Ned and Jack each have a peach-tree. There 
are 22 peaches on Ned's tree, but only one-half as 
many on Jack's tree. How many peaches are there 
on Jack's tree? 



92 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

34. A boy had 22 oranges and lost 6 of them. He 
divided the rest equally among 8 of his playmates. 
How many oranges did each playmate receive? 

35. Nellie saw 5 gray squirrels on one tree and 6 
birds in another tree. If 2 of the squirrels and one of 
the birds go away, how many squirrels and birds are 
left? 

36. Rose had 5 apples, Jack had 8 apples, Will had 
9 apples, and Joe had 10. How many did they all 
have? 



X. 

EXERCISES DEMANDING PRACTICAL JUDGMENT 
IN NUMBER 

The common tendency in the early work in number is to 
emphasize the work with figures and to omit the experience 
which demands the use of figures. We frequently attempt to 
teach a child the tables when he sees no use for them. 
Fractions appear to him as mere figures. Pupils in gram- 
mar grades will often place figures upon the boards when 
called upon to show fractions. 

Great care should be taken in primary grades to present 
the figure only as the sign of the number, and the equation 
only as a sign of a truth which pertains to numbers. The 
" process " is simply the manner of solving problems which 
occur in every- day life, and the written record in figures 
is the arithmetical statement of the thing which is done. 
" John has three dozen eggs. How much will he receive for 
them at twenty cents a dozen? " This is a practical problem 
which John will need to work out if he keeps hens. It is of 
practical interest to his mother if she buys eggs. He needs 
to know that three twenties are sixty. He should receive 
sixty cents for his eggs. In the same way it may be conven- 
ient for him to know that there are twelve eggs in each dozen ; 
six eggs in a half-dozen ; that if twelve eggs are worth twenty 
cents, six eggs must be worth ten cents, and three eggs worth 
five cents. The relation between the whole dozen and the 
half-dozen, the price of a whole dozen and the price of a half- 



94 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

dozen, between ten and twenty, five and ten, appears in this 
example. The child's solution of the problem depends upon 
his power to see this relation. It must be remembered, how- 
ever, that this relation is taught, not by mere figures, but by 
objects and groups of objects. He must cut objects into 
halves, must realize that the value of the whole is equal to 
the value of the two halves. He must divide objects or 
groups of objects, or multiply them so as to have their value, 
double their value, etc. 

For example, he knows that he can buy a cake for ten 
cents. One-half the cake is, therefore, worth five cents. 
Two cakes would be worth twenty cents. He cuts a piece of 
paper to represent the cake. He must cut it into halves to 
represent the half-cake; he must have two equal pieces to 
represent the two cakes ; he must recognize five as one-half 
of ten ; ten as twice five ; twenty as twice ten. These 
numerical facts should be taught only in connection with the 
study of the things themselves. The most valuable part of 
the primary school number work is that which emphasizes 
relative sizes and values and which applies the truths of 
number to the children's experience. 

If this be true, it follows that a large portion of the drill and 
practice in primary number should be given to actual experi- 
ence with values and the study of the relation of numbers 
to the numerical expression of the facts observed. The 
following exercises have been suggested to meet this need. 
They may be multiplied indefinitely by any teacher who 
understands how to use them wisely. Ed. 

EXERCISES 

1. Cut a square of paper one inch side ; two inches 
side ; three inches side, etc. 

Your square represents a cake. Show one-half the 
cake. Show one-fourth the cake. 



PRACTICAL JUDGMENT IN NUMBER 95 

2. Your cake is worth 12 cents. What is one-half 
of the cake worth? One-fourth? 

3. Three boys buy the cake together. How many 
cents must each boy pay? Show his share of the cake 
by a drawing or folding. 

4. Draw and cut squares having a given diameter. 
Let the squares represent cakes. Use them as above. 

5. Draw and cut rectangles having given dimensions. 
A given rectangle represents a floor. It will cost $20 
to carpet the floor. What will it cost to carpet a floor 
half as large? Represent the problem by means of the 
rectangle. What will it cost to carpet a floor twice as 
large? Represent the problem. 

6. John's father has a rectangular field. Represent 
it. It will cost $5.00 to mow the field. Dick's father 
has a field twice as large. Represent the field. What 
will it cost to mow this field? 

7. Make a square of a given size. Make a rectangle 
twice as large. Make another rectangle three times as 
large as the square. Four times, and so on. Make 
problems using the rectangles as illustrations. 

8. Draw a line to represent the conditions of the 
problem. 

Draw pictures to represent the conditions. 

9. Use toy money. Attach it to the objects or fig- 
ures to indicate the relative values. 

10. Cut strips of carpet to cover the desk. Cut 
square inches to cover the surface of boxes. 

Lay square inches to cover surfaces of given dimen- 
sions. 

Mark out square yards on the floor or in the school 
yard. 

11. Let the children make for themselves bundles of 



96 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

splints (or wooden toothpicks) , by which they can 
represent numbers made up of tens and units. Illus- 
trate simple problems by means of these bundles. 

12. Bring little articles to school, — toys, utensils, etc. 
State actual cost or value, and make problems involv- 
ing buying or selling such articles. 

13 Let the children relate their actual experience in 
building and making, buying or selling, and ask the 
class to compare. 



EXERCISES IN MEASUREMENT 

Exercises in measurement are very valuable. Every child 
should provide himself with a foot rule, yard-stick, and tape- 
measure, which he has made for himself. Measurements 
should be made and compared, and this work assigned as 
actual individual or class work. The measurements should be 
compared at the period of recitation. Accuracy and pains- 
taking should be insisted upon. Later, measurement can be 
applied to the sewing, cooking, and wood-working, where such 
practice is indispensable. 

The following examples are suggestive : 

1. The skirt of Jeannette's next dress is to be trimmed with 
ribbon. How many yards of ribbon will be required for one 
row of trimming? Two rows? Three rows? How much 
will it cost at five cents a yard? Six cents? Ten cents? 

2. Kate is making candy. The recipe calls for a cup of 
sugar, a half-cup of cream, and one-fourth pound chocolate. 
To make twice as much candy, how much sugar does she 
need? How much cream? How much chocolate? 

3. Jack is making a checker-board. He divides the board 
into two-inch squares. How large must his board be ? 

As soon as this element of reality enters into the child's 
work, he will learn readily, will apply his new knowledge and 



PRACTICAL JUDGMENT IN NUMBER 97 

will retain what he has learned. He will remember only what 
he uses. He will use nothing which does not enter into his own 
experience. It is because the practice runs against the grain 
that it is necessary to spend so much time in primary drill. 
Teachers are urged to observe the plays which interest the 
children, their building, their making, their buying and sell- 
ing, their trading. Out of these experiences abundant prob- 
lems may be constructed, to be repeated in the school 
practice. Ed. 



XI. 



SEAT WORK IN NUMBER FOR GRADES II. 
AND III. 

Measuring and Cutting exercises should be given 
freely, especially during the first half of the year. 
They may be similar to those given in Grade I., ex- 
cept that more difficult measurement should be re- 
quired. These exercises should emphasize the oral 
arithmetic lessons which are being given at the time. 

TYPE Examples may be put on the blackboard by 
the teacher. The children change the figures in the 
example, otherwise retaining the form. 

Ex. John sold 50 newspapers and Edwin sold 28. 
How many more papers were sold by John than by 
Edwin? 

Pupil's Ex. John sold 42 newspapers and Edwin 
sold 23. How many more newspapers were sold by 
John than by Edwin? 

This exercise may be varied by using the names 
of members of the class. Several examples may be 
required. 

Through such practice, the children will become 
familiar with the method of solving any easy problem. 

The tables of long measure, dry measure, and any other 
tables required in the course, can be fixed more firmly 
in the child's mind by frequent use in these examples. 

After a few months' practice in these examples use 



SEAT WORK IN NUMBER 99 

two problems involving two dissimilar operations. The 
pupils should make one example of each sort. 

This work in problems should receive more attention 
than the more abstract number work. 

The material mentioned below is useful : 

1. Individual counting-frames. These are wires upon 
which fifty (50) beads are strung; they may be used 
in all combinations of numbers to fifty. 

Each wire is about 18 inches long and \ inch 
diameter. Wire may be bought and cut at any store 
where wire is sold. Glass beads f inch diameter, with 
holes large enough to admit wire. 

The beads are strung two blue and one white alter- 
nately, every tenth bead a yellow one. The wires must 
be turned up in a loop at each end, to prevent beads 
from slipping off. 

Wire and beads for fifty-six children cost $3.00. 

2. Cards containing problems may be purchased at 
school supply firms. The questions may be copied and 
answers written, or work may be performed without 
copying questions. 

3. Cut large-sized figures from old calendars. These 
may be placed in envelopes and distributed to the 
children when needed, or they may be mounted on 
stiff paper^or cards and placed in boxes. 

Unmounted they last a long time, and are valuable in 
helping children to a knowledge of counting from one 
to thirty, in arranging the calendar months and for 
assorting. They may be mounted so as to give all the 
numbers from one to one hundred, and in this way may 
be used for decade work and for multiplication and 
division. LofC. 



XII. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES WITH 
ABSTRACT NUMBERS 

I. 

Write equations and have the children supply the 
missing term, as 

9+?=n ?X8 = 48 494-?=7 ? — 6 = 9 

? + 8=i6 4x7 = 24 9 + 8=? 15-7-5 = ? 

i8-?=ii ?-^7 = 5 7x8=? 16-7=? 

These may be written on cards 3JX4 inches. 

II. 

Ten sets of cards 3JX4 inches, every card different, 
may be used for drill on numbers from 10 to 100. Six 
sets include some of the forms of equations just men- 
tioned, as, 



(1) 


(2) 


(3) 


9+ 8 = 


9+ ?= 17 


? + 9= 15 


8 + 7 = 


8+ ?= 15 


? + 7= 15 


7+5 = 


7 + ?= i5 


? + 5 = i5 


0) 


CO 


(6) 


17-8 = 


17- ? = 8 


?- 8 = 9 


15-7 = 


15 - ? = 7 


?-7 = 8 


12-5 = 


12 — ? = 5 


?-5 = 7 



ABSTRACT NUMBERS 101 





ilL 






J» 




(9) 


(10) 


v2 


-3 


^4 


+ 1 


■5-9 


-7- 12 






10 


27 


4 


8 


14 


54 


94+8 


6x9 


6 


3 


16 


36 


16 


67 


37-9 


8-f- 4 


8 


36 


24 


75 


29 


109 


63 + 9 


7x8 


12 


30 


48 


86 


56 


47 


74-6 


144 -7- 12 


24 


21 


28 


29 


98 


86 


etc. 


etc. 



etc. etc. 

III. 

Let children make lists of numbers. Begin with a 
certain number and add an equal number each time ; 
set down results to about 100. Thus, begin with zero 
and add two each time; begin with two and add three 
each time. 

o 2 

2 5 

4 8 

6 11 

IV. 

Write on the board a number, as 30, with a row of 
numbers under it, thus ; — 2-9-6-4-5-1 -4-3-7-8-. Children 
add 2, 9, etc., to 30, then subtract 2, 9, etc., from 30. 

V. 

The wheel is a helpful device for written drill in num- 
ber. Place a row of numbers around the inside of 
the circle; in the centre, put a number and sign, as 
8-f. The children's work from the wheel, as it now 
looks, should be, — 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



8+2=10 
8 + 3=11 
8 + 5-13 



etc. 




If the sign and number are reversed, thus, + 8, the 
work would be, — 

2 + 8 

3 + 8 

5 + 8 etc. 

The cross at the top shows the starting-point. The 
arrow shows which way to take the numbers. When 
the pupils are able to do more, other numbers to be 
added may be placed in the centre ; then subtraction 
may be taken; place a number and sign, as 12 — ; the 
work would then be, 



8 + 2 = 10 


12 — 2 = 10 


8 + 3 = 11 


12-3 = 9 


8 + 5 = 13 


12-5= 7 


8 + 6 = 


12 — 6 = < 



= etc. 



ABSTRACT NUMBERS 103 

Gradually multiplication and division may be added to 
the work. The wheels may be varied in many ways, 
and made attractive by using colored chalks. 




VI. 

A change from the wheel, yet practically the same 

thing, is a column of figures written on the 6 

board, embraced in a bracket, at whose point 3 

are figures, preceded by signs which tell what g 

is required. This may include giving the first c 

and second terms to find the third, or the first 4 

and third to find the second, or the second and 2 

third to find the first term. Grades II. and III. g 

VII. 

Prepare a chart like the following, for rapid drill in 
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 



+ 7 
— 2 

+-2 



104 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



I 


ii 


21 


3 1 


4i 


5 1 


61 


7i 


81 


9i 


2 


12 


22 


32 


42 


52 


62 


72 


82 


92 


3 


13 


23 


33 


43 


53 


63 


73 


^3 


93 


4 


14 


24 


34 


44 


54 


64 


74 


84 


94 


5 


'5 


25 


35 


45 


55 


65 


75 


85 


95 


6 

7 
8 


16 


26 


36 


46 


56 


66 


76 


86 


96 


17 


27 


37 


47 


57 


67 


77 


87 


97 


18 


28 


38 


48 


58 


68 


78 


88 


98 


9 


19 


29 


39 


49 


59 


69 


79 


89 


99 


IO 


20 


30 


40 


5° 


60 


70 


80 


90 


100 



VIII. 

Supply each child with a quantity of pegs and an 
envelope containing numbers from one to fifty (these 
are written on cardboard or cut from calendars and 
pasted). When told to make a certain table,— for in- 
stance, the fours, — the child places the pegs thus, — 



II 



II 



MM 

MM 
MM 



and as he completes each progression, finds the required 
number in the envelope and places it thus : 



ABSTRACT NUMBERS 105 

llll 4 

INI llll 8 

llll llll MM 12 

Grade II. 

If the numbers are written on cards, some will be lost 
or soiled with constant use. The child himself may- 
replace these by writing the required number on little 
squares of blank card, given to him for the purpose. 

IX. 

Peg boards for drill on the " tables." Have a square 
board, half an inch thick, with twelve rows of holes, 
twelve holes in a row, the holes one inch apart ; holes 
large enough to admit the pointed end of a peg. Any 
table may be made, by placing the required number of 
pegs in each row down the twelve rows. Grade II. 

X. 

Make charts covering all multiplications and divisions. 

Arranged thus : Written by children thus : 

4 4 x 6 — 24 

4 6 X 4 = 24 • 

4 6 24 -r- 4 = 6 

4 6 24 -f- 6 = 4 
4 6 

_4 6_ 

24 24 Grade II. 

These charts should be made from large sheets of 
gray manila paper, marked with a rubber pen, and 
provided with some arrangement for hanging. 



106 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Seat work from the charts should follow concrete 
work, and be used only after children do good oral 
work from same charts. The work is easily looked 
over, affords constant repetition, and forms a basis 
for quick drill. 



DRAWING AND WRITING 



XIII. 

EXERCISES TO ACCOMPANY LESSONS IN 
DRAWING 

1. Make circles, squares, and oblongs of tough brown 
paper. 

(a) Let the children outline them, placing them in 
rows. 

{b) Let the children outline them and draw the 
diameters. 

(V) Let the children outline them and draw the diame- 
ters and diagonals. 

(d) Let the children outline them and combine them 
in designs. (This suggestion should be followed for 
busy work only after several lessons in designing have 
been given to the class, as suggested in the regular 
course in drawing. Otherwise the children make hap- 
hazard arrangements with no real thought of design 
underlying them; and this, while it may serve to keep 
them busy, cannot fail to affect harmfully the work 
in design.) 

2. Objects such as kites, leaves, stars, may be cut 
out of tagstock. Let the children outline them. 

3. Simple, straight, and curved line figures, such as 
squares, circles, fans, flags, and ladders, may be drawn 
by the teacher on both sides of blank cards (a differ- 
ent figure on each side). Give each child a card, with 



no PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

paper on which to draw as many of the figures as the 
space will allow. Encourage orderly arrangements of 
drawings in rows vertical and horizontal. Try to prevent 
haphazard arrangements and crowded papers. 

4. The teacher may outline figures of animals upon 
cards. Give each child a card and a sheet of tissue 
paper and let him trace them, or give him drawing 
paper and let him draw them. 

5. In October let each child bring a pretty leaf to 
school and trace around it, then put in the veins, and 
later draw it freehand. 

6. Let the children trace around leaves, color them, 
and then cut them out. In using colored crayons en- 
courage the children to make the strokes in one general 
direction, rather than rubbing round and round. 

7. Cut from old books and papers outline pictures of 
flowers, dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. Give each child a sheet 
of tissue paper and a picture and let him outline it. 
After a time he can reproduce it freehand. 

8. Let the children draw the specimens used in nature 
study, as seeds, leaves, fruits, twigs, and flowers. Pressed 
leaves and flowers may be utilized here. 

9. Let the children illustrate the subjects talked of in 
the general lessons, either with pegs or pencil. For ex- 
ample, in November the teacher may outline upon the 
board pictures of the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, a wig- 
wam, or a log house, and the children will be delighted 
to reproduce them upon their desks with pegs. Then 
they may be erased from the .board and the children 
directed to draw them upon paper, with such additions 
of their own as their imaginations dictate. The general 
subjects for each month may be treated in a similar 
manner. 



EXERCISES IN DRAWING m 

10. Let them illustrate a poem or a story. (See pp. 
127-132.) 

11. The children may trace the geometric figures, 
and by the addition of a few lines change the figures 
into some familiar object. 

12. The teacher may put upon the board a design of 
geometric figures, — as a border composed of a repeti- 
tion of squares or of alternating squares and circles. 
Give the children corresponding tablets to outline and 
let them copy the design. 

13. Give them the tablets and let them originate 
designs for borders. 

Note : This should not be attempted until after instruction in 
the same line has been given in the drawing lessons. The 
simple principles of order and strength being understood, 
the children will not be tempted to create such weak designs 
as they otherwise will. 

14. Put upon the board designs other than borders, 
composed of geometric figures, and allow the children 
to reproduce with tablets. 

15. Let them originate similar designs. (See No. 13.) 

16. Put upon the board designs composed of straight 
lines. Let the children reproduce them upon paper, 
with the aid of Prang's one, two, and three inch sticks to 
secure right proportions. Good suggestions for these 
borders may be obtained from " Elementary Needle- 
work," by K. M. Foster, published by Prang Educa- 
tional Company. 

17. Let them originate borders in like manner. (See 
note under No. 13.) 

18. Give each child a pair of scissors and a sheet of 
paper. Let him cut, freehand, leaves, flowers, and 



ii2 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

objects which he may see. He may draw in lines or 
color afterwards. This is most excellent work at any 
time. One or two lessons in handling scissors and 
holding paper properly should first be given. 

19. Give each child a sheet of plain paper and a 
tablet of any shape. The children may cover the paper 
with outlines of the tablet, and then draw in each some 
object, as a butterfly, violet, buttercup, etc. The chil- 
dren enjoy this very much if the teacher selects the 
best sheets to be colored at some later time. Orderly 
arrangement should be insisted upon. 

20. Give each child a sheet of tissue paper and one 
of ruled paper. Let him trace the ruled lines on the 
tissue paper, then bisect the spaces by lines parallel 
to those traced. Afterwards cut the paper on the lines 
drawn. Purpose : Practice in drawing vertical and 
horizontal lines. Do not place dots and draw from one 
dot to another, but draw the line freely. 

21. Give each child a sheet of tissue paper and one 
of ruled paper. Let him trace the ruled lines and fill 
every other space with a border design, as a row of 
apples, of leaves, or flowers, or with symbolic designs, 
as three lines diverging from a point to represent a 
plant, horizontally elongated diamonds to represent 
pollywogs, oblique lines composed of dashes for driving 
rain, triangles for tents, etc. Purpose : Practice in 
border designs. 

22. Placing points and drawing from one to another 
is extremely cramping in its effect, and does not develop 
the idea of the direction of line which is one of the first 
things that it seems wise to foster. 

" Practice in drawing straight lines " should develop 
this feeling and judgment of direction of line and the 



EXERCISES IN DRAWING 113 

manual ability of keeping the line going in the right 
direction without the mechanical contrivance of a dot at 
the end. A child should be taught to draw .a square by 
placing light, soft little lines thus 
to show the mass or proportion of 
the square, — the height and width, 
— then to examine or test these, 
and correct by moving one line, 
then to sketch the sides of the 
square through these indicated 

lines, with no thought of the comers, fixing the atten- 
tion wholly upon the proportion of the whole. 

23. Give each child a one-inch stick, a pencil, and 
sheet of drawing paper. Ask the children to place the 
stick on the desk near the top edge of the paper. Direct 
them to notice its length, to call it " one inch long," 
to place a point by guess, on the top edge of the paper, 
one inch from the corner; then to take the stick, 
measure this distance, and correct, if necessary. Then 
sketch a vertical line to the lower edge of the paper, 
parallel to the left edge. Place another point at the top 
edge, by guess ; test, correct, sketch second line parallel 
to the first, and proceed in the same way until paper 
is filled. This may be carried out similarly by placing 
points on left edge of paper and sketching horizontal 
lines. No point should be placed at the end of the line 
toward which the child is drawing. The direction of 
the line, not the end of it, is the important idea. 

Object : learning to estimate one inch, and to sketch 
parallel lines. 

24. Give each child a circular tablet one inch in 
diameter. Direct the children to outline the tablets, 
then to measure one-half inch to the right and left of 



II 4 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



this circle by using the one-inch sticks. Through these 
points which they have found they may draw another 
circle about the first one. Then measuring as before, 
they may draw a third circle, and so on until a given 
number of concentric circles has been drawn. Purpose : 
Practice in drawing circles. (Use only after careful 
teaching.) 

25. Let the children draw designs and borders and 
color them with pencils or crayons which may be 
bought for one cent or five cents apiece. They may 
also draw and color leaves and flowers from nature. 
Useful all through the year. 

A great variety of borders, rosettes, etc., may be 
planned. Pegs may be used for many of these borders 
and designs. At times the children make designs with- 
out a copy. 

This suggestion is valuable, but should be used only after 
several lessons in designing borders have been given to the 
children and the principle of strength in arrangement has 
been explained. 

Border lines made of the Prang sticks or of shoe pegs add 
much to the value of the designs. 

Tablets placed overlapping, or at a sufficient distance from 
each other to give the feeling of their ability to stand alone, 
will have the necessary element of strength, 




CO CO CD 



none oooo 



EXERCISES IN DRAWING 115 

whereas tablets just touching each other or just touching mar- 
gin lines seem weak. 

ODD ^^ m 

This principle is easily understood by the children and should 
govern all work in designing or arranging. 

For more advanced work the children may arrange 
tablets in original designs on their desks and then 
draw them on paper, freehand, watching carefully the 
size and proportions of the tablets and the spaces 
between. 

26. The teacher may collect, or she may encourage 
the children to collect, little pictures of objects based 
on the type forms. These may be cut from advertising 
pages of magazines, etc. The pictures may be placed 
in envelopes and given to the children to arrange in 
groups according to the particular basic type. 

27. Children may arrange and paste the colors of the 
spectrum. At first the six colors, red, orange, yellow, 
green, blue, violet, are used ; later some of the interven- 
ing colors are added. 

Milton Bradley's colored squares divided into sixteen 
oblongs are used. These give a narrow oblong, but 
waste little paper, while the children are working out 
the arrangement of colors as seen in the spectrum. 
Later, larger oblongs may be used, by dividing the 
square into eight oblongs. 

28. Collections of scraps of pretty colored materials 
may be made, placed in envelopes, and the children 
allowed to sort according to the six primary spectrum 
colors. 



n6 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

29. Make a collection of pasteboard units for designs. 
These may be several geometric outlines, or units of 
historic ornament. There should be a large number of 
duplicates. Let the children arrange these units in 
effective designs and copy and color the designs. 

30. Allow each pupil to make an individual sketch- 
book in which he is free to draw whatever he may choose 
after other lessons are ended. As a reward for diligent 
and faithful work, individual pupils may be allowed to 
sketch out of doors ; or groups of children may be sent 
to sketch selected objects. Such exercises are partic- 
ularly necessary in schools where large number of classes 
make frequent recitations impossible, and where variety 
must be provided through the busy work. 



XIV. 

A SERIES OF CHARTS FOR BUSY WORK 
IN DRAWING 

THE eight following pages represent a chart which 
the teacher may copy in large size upon heavy manila 
paper, the sheets to be fastened together and hung 
upon the wall. The different forms may be copied by 
the children with pegs or sticks, upon the desk or a 
sheet of cardboard. 

Similar pages may be added at the teacher's pleasure. 

A rubber pen or a wide drawing pen made for such 
purposes should be used in making the chart. 

(The drawings for the chart were prepared by Miss Kate F. 
Pierce, Assistant Director of Drawing, Boston, whose courtesy 
and kindness are gratefully acknowledged.) Ed. 



18 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 




DRAWING CHART FOR BUSY WORK 119 




120 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 




DRAWING CHART FOR BUSY WORK 121 










>' 





^sssf 



22 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 




DRAWING CHART FOR BUSY WORK 123 







24 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 




DRAWING CHART FOR BUSY WORK 125 




XV. 
CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS 

THE use of imaginative and illustrative drawing is 
most beneficial to the child, because it gives the constant 
practice of pencil handling that is absolutely necessary. 
It also keeps the child in the habit of trying to express 
his ideas for himself. Both the ideas and the drawings 
are necessarily crude at first, but gradually grow more 
and more complete through the very trying. 

Older children, whose early efforts in this direction 
were not encouraged, are very unwilling, and indeed 
unable, to put their ideas, unaided, upon paper. They 
should not be allowed to grow self-conscious, nor to 
feel that their crude attempts are of no value or will 
be ridiculed. 

The skilful teacher will use these drawings as records 
by which to judge the progress of the child's mind, — 
how much he has grasped of what she has just been 
telling him, how much he observed in his walks, how 
much of a nature-lesson he really absorbed, how much 
of a story he understood. 

This work is especially valuable in connection with 

lessons on animals. It should never be considered as a 

result, but as a means to an end, — the end that every 

good teacher keeps always in view, the growth of the 

individual child. 

KATE F. PIERCE. 



CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS 



127 




Hiawatha 

" Of all beasts he learned the language." Artist seven 
years of age. He depicts the reindeer, squirrel, rabbit, 
and beaver. The latter, being less familiar, is drawn 
most poorly. The Indian has a real Indian face. Per- 
spective is good. Arrangement is good, indicating a 
clear mental picture of the whole scene. 





Story of " Three Bears " 

The child's idea of relative size is good and well 
expressed. So also is the action in the figure. Minor 
details, buttons, etc., omitted, and thought evidently 
concentrated on main points. 



128 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 



© 



£cruuLAje,#AA^4>w 



MllMilMiAl 



S\J3*-0<XtL. 




The Field Lesson 



This child remembers the various trees noticed while 
walking and tries to depict them, distinguishing them 
by their leaves. Those given are the most important 
in her estimation. She attempts to show road and 
sidewalk, and succeeds, too. Arrangement and obser- 
vation excellent. 



4*4jc 



r 14*4 r oJfr &JLi**>~- yyiatuL 






\! ^^.^^:(^lj rn rtt+Z 



This picture was drawn to illustrate spelling lesson, 
the subject being " A Frosty Day." Words given were 
water, rain, drops, ice, slippery, snow, etc. Note action 
in two figures at right ; also flagging. 



CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS 



l 2( 




/3o^JL4 l^ 



Drawing remarkable on account of the suggestion of 
great numbers of men, arranged one behind the other 
and only parts of each being shown. Artist distin- 
guishes very well also between the farmers and the 
regulars. This drawing shows undoubted influence of 
some picture seen and studied. 




Washington fighting the French and Indians 

As explained by child, the first man is Washington, 
the next McKinley; the third one is uncertain. Snow 
on ground, consequently horses' feet all " balled up." 
The army is over at left (with expressive gesture over 
desk at left of paper), — "Don't you see them over 
here hiding behind the trees?" Note "arsenals" of 
warriors, shape of caps, etc., also absence of ideas 
regarding historical sequence. 9 



3° 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 




Boys Skating 

Unusually good action. Notice calm indifference of 
big boys not playing hockey. No idea of perspective, 
but remarkably good observation of figures in motion. 




The Field Lesson 

Artist seven years of age. Notice action and arrange- 
ment. Tt is true, as he has shown, that those children 
at the end are apt to straggle behind. No observation 
of trees. 



CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS 



13 1 





Hiawatha 




" Once a warrior . . . seized his grandmother and 
threw her," etc. Artist ten years of age. Notice the 
action. The grandmother seems to go. Child needs 
a few hints as to relative size of head and body, etc. 




Snow Scene 

Note unusual arrangement. Child has expressed the 
fact of one object in front of and consequently partially 
covering another object. This is very unusual. Shows 
a very clear mental concept of the whole scene. 



3 2 



PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 




Paul Revere's Ride 

The child's thought of Paul was Poll (parrot). Note 
beak, shape of body, etc. Poor arrangement, lack of 
unity and clearness in idea and grasp of the whole 
thing, as well as mistaken concept of the hero. 



LIST OF STORIES OR INCIDENTS AND SCENES TO 
BE ILLUSTRATED BY DRAWING 

Many of ^Esop's Fables. 

Hiawatha's childhood. 

Hiawatha's building of canoe. 

Hiawatha's sailing. 

Hiawatha's fishing. 

Hiawatha's learning language of bird and beast. 

Hiawatha's shooting of the deer. 

Hiawatha and the pearl feather. 



CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS 133 

Red-Riding-Hood. 

Cinderella. 

Goldenhair and the Three Bears. 

Rhymes from Mother Goose. 

The first Thanksgiving. 

Santa Claus and Reindeer. 

Christmas tree. 

Stockings hung by chimney. 

Jack Frost. 

Paul Revere's Ride. 

George Washington at the elm. 

George Washington and the hatchet 

Admiral Dewey at Manila. 

A rainy day. 

A windy day. 

A summer day. 

A winter day. 

Children going to school. 

Gathering apples. 

Gathering chestnuts. 

The snow man. 

Jack and Mary run a race. 

Our schoolhouse. 

Peggy's Christmas tree. 

The Ugly Duckling. 

The Leak in the Dike. 

Pied Piper. 

Any walk or picnic in which the children all take part. 



XVI. 
FOR PRACTICE IN WRITING 

MOTTOES, PROVERBS, AND QUOTATIONS TO BE COPIED 
BY THE CHILDREN 

A MERRY heart goes all the day. 

All great works are made up of little works well done. 

Come, work together with hearty good will. 

Do noble things, not dream them. 

He who loves to know must love to learn. 

I '11 do the best that I can. 

Learn to labor and to wait. 

Not how much, but how well. 

There 's nothing so kingly as kindness, 

And nothing so royal as truth. 

There is always something going on out of doors 
worth looking at. 

To thine own self be true. 

Think much, speak little. 

The good deed lives through all ages. 

What ought to be done, can be done. 

Work teaches us to be faithful. 

Constant occupation prevents temptation. 

Obedience is more seen in little things than in great. 

Obedience is the mother of happiness. 

Mistakes occur through haste, never through doing 
a thing leisurely. 

Method will teach you to win time. 



FOR PRACTICE IN WRITING 



35 



Set about whatever you intend to do ; the beginning 
is half the battle. 

Time is precious, but truth is more precious than 
time. 

Lost time is never found again, and what we call time 
enough always proves little enough. 

He who gains time, gains everything. 

A little too late, much too late. 

The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it. 

The workman is known by his work. 

Never was good work done without much trouble. 

The result tests the work. 

Good material is half the work. 

A work ill done must be twice done. 

A work well begun is half done. 

The time is never lost that is devoted to work. 

By the work we know the workman. 

Do the head work before the hand work. 

Scatter with one hand, gather with two. 

Promise little and do much. 

Patience is the key of Paradise. 

At the bottom of patience is Heaven. 

How poor are they who have not patience. 

Patience is the door of joy. 

Patience opens all doors. 

He who is not ready to-day will be less so to-morrow. 

When you have set yourself a task, finish it. 

From small beginnings come great things. 

Deserve success, and you shall command it. 

A child has two ears and one mouth, that he may 
hear much and speak little. 

Unfading are the gardens of kindness. 

Good to begin well, better to end well. 



i3 6 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

Cross words are like ugly weeds. 

Make haste slowly. 

Never is a long day. 

No one is always right. 

Tell me with whom you go, and I will tell you what 
you are. 

When there is no good within, no good comes out. 

Not how long you live, but how well. 

You can do more good by being good than in any 
other way. 

Our thoughts are heard in Heaven. 

The wise man is not he who never makes a mistake ; 
but he who never makes the same mistake twice. 



JEFFERSON'S TEN RULES. 

1. Never put off until to-morrow what you can do 
to-day. 

2. Never spend your money before you have it. 

3. Never trouble another for what you can do your- 
self. 

4. Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and gold. 

5. We seldom repent of having eaten too little. 

6. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 

7. How much pain the evils have cost us that have 
never happened. 

8. Take things always by the smooth handle. 

9. When angry, count ten before you speak, if very 
angry, count a hundred. 

10. Never buy what you don't want because it is 
cheap. 



FOR PRACTICE IN WRITING 137 



POOR RICHARD'S SAYINGS. 

1. Many a little makes a mickle. 

2. Three removes are as bad as a fire. 

3. A word to the wise is enough. 

4. God helps them that help themselves. 

5. The used key is always bright. 

6. If you would have your business done, go; if not, 
send. 

7. A small leak will sink a great ship. 

8. Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them. 

9. It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright. 

10. Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt. 

11. The sleeping fox catches no poultry. 

12. Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all 
easy. 

13. Plough deep while sluggards sleep. 

14. Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do 
to-day. 

15. Handle your tools without mittens ; the cat in 
gloves catches no mice. 

16. Little strokes fell great oaks. 

17. Vessels large may venture more, 

But little boats should keep near shore. 

18. Get what you can, and what you get hold ; 

'T is the stone that will turn your lead into gold. 

19. Remember that time is money. 

20. He that riseth late must trot all day. 

21. There are no gains without pains. 

22. One to-day is worth two to-morrows. 

23. Be ashamed to catch yourself idle. 



138 PLANS FOR BUSY WORK 

24. Leisure is time for doing something useful. 

25. If you would have a faithful servant, serve 
yourself. 

26. A stitch in time saves nine. 



PROVERBS. 

1. Train up a child in the way he should go, and 
when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

2. Labor not to be rich. 

3. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in 
pictures of silver. 

4. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own 
mouth ; a stranger, and not thine own lips. 

5. Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways, 
and be wise. 

6. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 

7. A wise son maketh a glad father ; but a foolish son 
is the heaviness of his mother. 

8. Lying lips are abomination to the Lord : but they 
that deal truly are his delight. 

9. A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous 
words stir up anger. 

10. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. 

11. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty 
spirit before a fall. 

12. He that is slow to anger is better than the 
mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that 
taketh a city. 

13. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. 

14. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his 
work be pure, and whether it be right. 

15. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty. 



FOR PRACTICE IN WRITING 139 

16. A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches; and loving favor rather than silver and gold. 

17. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 

18. Be not wise in thine own eyes. 

19. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, her ways 
are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 

20. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not 
in the way of evil men. 

21. Get wisdom ; and with all thy getting, get under- 
standing. 

22. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left ; remove 
thy foot from evil. 

23. There be four things which are little upon the 
earth, but they are exceeding wise : 

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare 
their meat in the summer. 

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their 
houses in the rocks. 

The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them 
by bands. 

The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in 
king's palaces. 



JnlT-ie. 1901 



JUL 10 1901 



